Brenda Reed Obituary

Brenda Cummings Reed, 74, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina passed away peacefully in the early morning hours on September 10, 2025, at Tidelands Waccamaw Hospital in Murrells Inlet after a long battle with metastatic breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. Brenda was born on July 27, 1951, in Columbia, SC to Max Lee and Clara Robinson Cummings. She graduated from Columbia High school where she was a member of the Anchor Club and the National Honor Society. She attended the University of South Carolina where she majored in Public Relations. While in High School she met Steven Reed whom she married upon their graduation from USC. She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Steven Reed of Myrtle Beach, her sister Jacquelyn Robinson (Robin) Cummings (Cathy Brewster) of Marrietta, GA, her brother, Max Lee (Rocky) Cummings of Myrtle Beach, an uncle, Robbie Robinson, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Preceding her and welcoming her on the other side of the veil of life were her parents, Max Lee and Clara Robinson Cummings, and many aunts and uncles. She began her career in merchandizing with Belk-Hudson Department Stores and advertising at a Radio Station. She became the Public Information officer at Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College then moved on to the South Carolina Department of Corrections where she received national recognition for her work on the Department's internal newsletter. She ended her career as the Employee Drug Testing Coordinator for SCDC. Brenda was creative and wrote poetry, drew, arranged flowers, and found creative ways to solve problems. She walked the Myrtle Beach marathon or half marathon 5 times and the Atlanta Thanksgiving Marathon with her sister once. After her first bout with breast cancer, she helped other people who were fighting the disease by giving them hope and support through phone calls and card. She understood the need to offer support so when her brothers-in-law developed cancer, she sent cards of encouragement weekly. Traveling and seeing the world was what gave Brenda the most joy. With her husband, she visited 6 continents and over 45 countries. Some of the highlights included a personal guided tour of Romania, the 28 day Australia and New Zealand Christmas cruise, the 32 day tour of Great Britain and Ireland, the week missionary trip to Tanzania, the cruise from Hawaii to Tahiti, and twice traversing the Panama Canal. For her 50th wedding anniversary, Brenda and Steve took a three week tour of France. In March of 2025 she was able to complete a bucket cruise of Antarctica. She had to cancel another bucket list cruise to Iceland, Greenland and Norway during September 2025. Brenda was a partner at Shepherd of the Sea Lutheran Church where she was a Lay Reader and helper in many ways. A Celebration of Life will be held at Shepherd of the Sea, 2637 US 17-BUS, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 on October 12 at 2:00 pm. A reception will be held after the service in the Church Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Shepherd of the Sea, the American Cancer Society, or charity of your choice. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Brenda Cummings Reed, please visit our floral store.