Harry A. Reynolds, aged 85, descendant of one of the first pioneer families to settle in the Walla Walla valley, died suddenly while at the airport Saturday morning to welcome an incoming relative.
Reyolds was born in Walla Walla county, October 14, 1863 the sons of Almos H. Reynolds and Lettie J. Reynolds. The father was a pioneer miller and constructed the first commercial flour mill in the Walla Walla valley erecting it in 1859 in partnership with J.A. Simms and Capt. F.T. Dent, the latter a brother of Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant. It was located on land then owned by Jesse Drumheller, now part of the Whitney place. In 1862 he built what became known as the Star mill on the Yellowhawk near the H.A. Reynolds residence. The mother was the widow Mrs. Ransom Clark, who came to Walla Walla in 1859 to hold a donation claim her husband filed on in 1855. Mrs. Clark and A.H. Reynolds were married in 1862 and made their home on the Ransom Clark donation claim.
Harry A. Reynolds received his primary education in Walla Walla and then attended the University of Michigan from which he was graduated with a law degree in 1886. He was married January 1, 1891 to Bertha Truesdell, who died a few years ago.
Reynolds was a member of the city council soon after returning home from college, the family at that time living on North Second avenue near the present Federal board of county commissioners in 1914 and was a amember of the board when the present courthouse was build in 1916. He later served terms as commissioner in 1934, 1936 and 1938.
Reynolds served as secretary of the first Y.M.C.A. organized here in the late eighties. He was an active supporter of the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. and his mother donated the land on which the Y.M.C.A. building was erected. He belonged to the Congregational church.
Reynolds gave most of his attention to farming the place his father had developed.
He is survived by three daughters, Miss Carrie Reynolds of Santa Monica, Calif., Miss Charlotte Reynolds and Miss Margaret Reynolds of Walla Walla, two sons, Harry J. Reynolds of Hermosa, S.D., and Allen L. Reynolds of Walla Walla; and four granddaughters.