Carmen Yvonne Reid

Carmen Yvonne Parham Reid, 71, of Dothan, Alabama, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on April 3, 2025.

Yvonne was born on January 17, 1954, in Mobile, AL, and grew up in Enterprise, AL, where she graduated from Enterprise High School in 1972. She received her B.A. in English from the University of Alabama in 1976, taught high school literature for three years, and went on to obtain her master’s degree in counseling from UAB. On August 5, 1978, she married her wonderful husband Dr. Calvin Lamar Reid, an internal medicine physician. Yvonne and Calvin came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior shortly after getting married. They joined Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, and Yvonne began counseling at Sav-A-Life with Wales Goebel Ministry. After moving to Dothan in 1981, Yvonne and Calvin joined First Presbyterian Church. They helped found Sav-A-Life Dothan, which later became known as Wiregrass Hope Group, where Yvonne spent 37 years counseling adult women. In addition to her fruitful counseling ministry, Yvonne led small group women’s Bible studies in her home and at church for over 30 years.

Yvonne cherished her family. She was a deeply loving and devoted wife to Calvin, mother to their three children, and grandmother to their four grandchildren. She was playful and fun and loved engaging with kids, whether it was playing games, telling stories, reading books, swinging, riding bikes, or pitching wiffle balls in the backyard. Yvonne and Calvin invested in many wonderful family vacations over the years, from skiing in Colorado to swimming and snorkeling in the Cayman Islands to hiking in North Carolina, and the grandkids were always excited for a trip to “Bon and Doc’s” beach place in Sandestin, Florida.

Yvonne loved others well. She was kind, compassionate, joyful, patient, brave, and wise. She enjoyed reading, especially the Bible and missionary biographies, and she was faithful to pray for and reach out to others with genuine care. After being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in November 2018, Yvonne started writing a blog on CaringBridge.org to share her insights through trials. In the midst of tremendous hardship, she demonstrated unwavering faith in God and trust in His sovereignty and goodness. She used her illness to minister to others by encouraging them through her beautiful, profound writing that always pointed back to Christ and the hope we have in Him.

Yvonne was preceded in death by her mother Bertha Era Till Parham and her father John Aldron Parham. She is survived by her husband of over 46 years, Calvin Lamar Reid; by her daughter Allison Yvonne Reid Lumbatis (Nathan) and sons Christopher Calvin Reid and Jordan David Reid; and by her grandchildren Ariel Yvonne Lumbatis, Lily Allison Lumbatis, Daniel Reid Lumbatis, and Marshall MaryAllan Reid, all of Dothan. She is also survived by her three sisters Johnny Carole Jones, Era Jo Parham, and Frances Vitty (David), and by many beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews and their families.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to First Presbyterian Church of Dothan, AL, or to Wiregrass Hope Group of Dothan, AL.

There will be a private burial at Sunset Memorial Park for the family. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church in Dothan with Rev. Rusty Milton and Rev. Jay Joye officiating. A visitation from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. will follow at the church.