Gainsville Sun/Florida 25.06.1986

The world

Officials eulogize Dean Reed

BERLIN - East German cultural officials joined family members and friends at a memorial service in East Berlin Tuesday for American-born singer Dean Reed, 47, who died a week ago, the state-run ADN news agency reported.

It said the service for Dean Reed, who had lived in East Germany since 1972, were attended by Deputy Culture Minister Horst Pehnert; Reed's wife Renate Blume-Reed and their children, and Reed's mother, Ruth Anna Brown.

Pehnert praised Reed as an artist and fighter "who used his talent in the service of peace and progress."

According to ADN, Reed's mother said he should be buried in East Germany, home. No other funeral details were given.

ADN said last Tuesday Reed's death resulted from a "tragic accident." His mother, contacted in Hawaii by reporters at that time, said she had been informed that Reed died while swimming in a lake near his home.

Reed left the United States in 1962 and for a time lived in Mexico and Italy. He was almost unknown in the United States, but his concerts in the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc were sellouts.