Carlene Reeves

04/29/1935 - 01/29/2024

Carlene (Chittenden) Reeves died peacefully on January 29th of this year, family by her side, at her home in Walnut Creek. She had battled vascular dementia for four years. She was 88.

She was perhaps best known for teaching piano and harpsichord to nearly 300 Walnut Creek-area music students over her career, coaching them through recitals, performances and competitions.

She was born in 1935 in Healdsburg, in the house of her parents, Carl Chittenden of San Mateo and Helen Hawkins of Petaluma. She grew up in Richmond, Napa, San Francisco and El Segundo, as well as Queens and East Islip, New York, before enrolling at Bryn Mawr College (Pennsylvania), where she graduated in Chemistry with high honors.

In 1956 she married Bruce Reeves of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania,

a high school English teacher and graduate of Haverford College (Pennsylvania).

They started out together in Berkeley and then Pleasant Hill, but finally settled in Walnut Creek, in 1964. Together Carlene and Bruce lovingly raised four children, teaching each of them music and an appreciation of language and communication.

Carlene was a leader in music teachers’ professional groups and a contributor at early music organization Music Sources in Berkeley. At her church, St. Paul’s, she served as senior warden and head of the lay ministry program in the 1980s. In the 1990s she served as a board member for Hospice of the East Bay.

She was an avid cook and gardener, as well as an enthusiastic world traveler, having explored Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, several northern and eastern

European countries, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Bali, and her favorite destination, China, which she visited on three different occasions.

She is survived by her husband Bruce Reeves Sr.; her children Bruce Reeves Jr. (Sarah), Tim Reeves (friend, Durwood), and Wendy Reeves-Hampton (Brian); her grandchildren, Melanie, Lila, Tyler and Will; and her half-sister Ganne Howard. She is predeceased by her son, Matt.

Shortly before passing, Carlene said goodbye to her cherished French bulldog of ten years, Rosie.

Services will be held Saturday, April 27 at 2:00 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1924 Trinity Avenue in Walnut Creek. For those so inclined, orange and black attire is encouraged in honor of her beloved San Francisco Giants; guests are also encouraged to bring a plate of their favorite cookies to share after the service.