Thomas W. Reed and Lora G. Reed (nee Lora Alpert Gold) married September 4, 1955, providing the genesis for this particular section of the website. The information on the following pages provides a family history of both sides of the family.
Introduction:
Thomas W. Reed (formerly Weiszbluth Gyozo Tamas, Thomas Weiszbluth and Thomas Weissbluth)was the eldest child of Eugene Weissbluth and Rozsa Weissbluth (maiden name Rosenblum) of Mezocsat, Hungary. His mother, younger brothers (Gyorgy Tivadar (“Gyuri”), Oscar Ivan (“Oszi” and Alfred Denes ) and his little sister were Judith (Juditka) and grandparents were murdered in Auschwitz in June of 1944. From Auschwitz, Tom and his father managed to stay together when subsequently transferred to Birkenau, Mittergars and Muhldorf-Mettenheim. Immediately following the war, Tom and his father lived in Feldafing, a displaced persons camp (a former Hitler youth camp) outside of Munich Germany, and in then Munich itself until 1949 when they were able to immigrate to the United States of America. Thanks to the help of a distant relative, Eugene was sponsored by a congregation in Cleveland, Ohio in need of a Rabbi. Tom and Eugene worked various manual labor jobs with Tom entering college to study electrical engineering at what is now Case Western Reserve and Eugene starting a career selling insurance, primarily in the Hungarian immigrant community. Tom’s studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he achieved the rank of Corporal and served in Military Intelligence. After receiving an honorable discharge, Tom returned to school where he became engaged to and married Lora, finished school, and went to work as an engineer for North American Aviation in Columbus, Ohio. Soon thereafter came their first child, Michael George Reed(Yechiel ben Avraham), a second, Judith Roseanne Reed (Goldie Rachel), and finally, Susan Ellen Reed (Toby). Tom went to law school at night at what become Capital University while working full time as an electrical engineer at North American Aviation, which later become part of Rockwell International and ultimately Boeing. Ultimately, Tom became the Manager of Defense Trade Policy for the Rockwell International Overseas Corporation, with offices in both Atlanta, Georgia and Washington D.C. He was also appointed to the Defense Trade Advisory Group, an organization created by the United States Department State’s Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs.
Lora was the second child of Edith Alpert and Melvin Gold of Cleveland, Ohio. It is believed that Edith came to the United States from Odessa, Russia as a babe in arms.
Melvin died of cancer while Lora was in her freshman year at Ohio State University. She returned home to help her father with his final illness and then stayed in Cleveland, Ohio, originally studying nursing forgone quarter at Mt. Sinai Hospital, then studying biology at Western Reserve University (Flora Stone Mather) after her father passed way. She met Tom at Hillel at Case Western Reserve University during the High Holidays. They eventually married at her home and moved to Columbus where Lora continued her education, switching from biology to history due to time commitment required of biology labs. Realizing the scarcity of jobs available for history majors, she returned to school and obtained a B.S. in Education. Lora later partnered with her close friend Ann Stocker where the two of them sold and invested in real estate together. At age 49, Lora obtained her Master’s degree in Special Education from Ohio State University with an all “A” grade average, specializing in teaching dyslexic children. Not long after, she and Tom moved to Georgia when Tom’s employer moved the Missile Division to the Atlanta Georgia area. Tom had moved from engineering to export licensing and compliance so he traveled regularly to Washington D.C. to meet with Pentagon officials, Embassy personnel and other representatives of foreign governments.
Soon after, the grandchildren started making appearances- Benjamin David Reed, Andrew Weiss Reed and Alex Jacob Reed were all born to Barb and Mike. Saree Kailah Emily Olkes and Joshua Yaacov Reed Olkes were born to Judy and her first husband, Stuart, and Susie married and later divorced John Hungeling.
Lora taught special education children at the Schenck School in Atlanta for many years while Tom continued his work in export licensing and compliance. His work was so well regarded that he was asked to perform those duties for the entire company. Tom died in Atlanta on March 10, 2000, at 88 years of age during the advent of the COVID-19 crises, so his memorial was conducted via “zoom” by a Rabbi he had befriended while serving as a lecturer on Holocaust studies at a local Jewish day school. He was cremated and his ashes buried in the back yard of his beloved home at 3150 Wolf Willow Close, Milton Georgia.
Our Family-Our History 
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