In this June 1, 2017 photo, John Reed, the Davenport Hotel door man who was hired by Louis Davenport June 1, 1942, smiles as the gathered hotel staff and media celebrate his 75-year tenure at the hotel in Spokane, Wash. Reed, the dapper doorman who greeted generations of visitors to Spokane's Davenport Hotel during a 75-year career, has died at age 88. He was just 13 when the hotel hired him. (Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review via AP)
Republished April 10, 2018 - 12:05 PM
Original Publication Date April 10, 2018 - 8:21 AM
SPOKANE, Wash. - John Reed, the dapper doorman who greeted generations of visitors to Spokane's Davenport Hotel during a 75-year career, has died at age 88.
Family members say Reed died at home, after reluctantly taking the past few weeks off to nurse a foot ulcer.
The Spokesman-Review says Reed started working as a bus boy at the hotel on June 1, 1942. Until recently, he was a fixture at the doors, greeting visitors four days a week, dressed in his black top hat and red three-piece suit.
Reed was just 13 when the hotel hired him. It was World War II, and able-bodied men were in short supply.
He was the last hotel employee who worked directly with Louis Davenport, who opened the hotel in 1913 and died in 1951.
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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com
News from © The Associated Press, 2018