Brenda Todd Reavis

Brenda Todd Reavis, age 81, of Alcoa, TN, passed away peacefully at home on June 25, 2026.

Brenda was born April 17, 1945, to Luther and Pearl Todd of Yadkinville, NC. She attended school in Yadkinville and was valedictorian of her graduating high school class. Brenda then attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) where she graduated cum laude in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics and was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Nu honor societies.

 Brenda interned that summer with RJR Foods and then entered the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where she earned a Master of Science Degree in Nutrition with a minor in Food Science. In 1968 Brenda began teaching Nutrition and Food Science at Georgia Southern College in Statesboro, GA.

In 1969 Brenda married her long-time boyfriend, Gray Reavis, whom she had met in first grade, and moved to Maryville, TN where Gray was working. There she taught nutrition and food science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. In 1973 Gray’s job with ALCOA took them to southern Indiana and Brenda decided she would be a full-time mother with the birth of their first daughter. Further family moves took Brenda to Pittsburgh and back to southern Indiana where she gave back to her community through everything from Girl Scout leader to PTO board member to Sunday school teacher. Brenda served on the Board of Trustees and the Endowment Committee of Aldersgate United Methodist Church. She also served on the Board of Directors of the United Methodist Youth Home and on various committees of the Southern Indiana Home Economics Association, including being president of the Evansville chapter.

Brenda loved her yard and garden, filling them with flowers at 5 different houses. When the daughters left home, Brenda and Gray stepped up their traveling and exploring. After Gray’s retirement they returned to east Tennessee and began day hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains where they logged over 1000 miles. Brenda traveled the world with her husband Gray, visiting 56 countries (a number more than once) and all seven continents. Brenda wanted to see and learn about the people and experiences that our planet offers - from a walking safari in Africa to climbing a snow-covered mountain in Antarctica. She logged over one million flight miles, even though she was afraid of flying. Her favorite place to travel when not visiting family was Europe, and she loved cruising the rivers there.

She enjoyed classical music (her favorite musician was Yo-Yo Ma) and was a long-time supporter of the symphonies where she lived. Brenda was passionate about baking and cooking and was highly skilled at both. She spent hours in the kitchen teaching her daughters and granddaughters about the flavors, techniques, and chemistry involved with preparing food. Her lessons influenced both of her daughters to become chemical engineers, one granddaughter is studying Food Science, and the other granddaughter wants to be a teacher.

Brenda is survived by her husband Gray Reavis, her daughters Anna Husk (Jason) and Jennifer Reavis, by her granddaughters Rachel Husk and Rebecca Husk and by her sister Shelia Thomason. Brenda was preceded in death by her parents, Luther and Pearl Todd, by her brother and sister-in-law Stanley and Dena Todd, and by her brother-in-law Benjamin Thomason.

Services will be held on Thursday, July 02, 2026 at 12:00pm at Gentry Family Funeral Service in Yadkinville, North Carolina. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Following the service, burial will take place at Yadkin Memorial Gardens. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Nature Conservancy, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the World Wildlife Fund, Habitat for Humanity, and/or Heifer International.