Irene Reed

Reed lived in Fairbanks until a fall at her home in July 1996 forced her to return to Automba in 1997 where family could look after her. In Minnesota, she was a patron of the "Kalevala Theatre Society". In 1998, Reed was awarded an honorary doctorate for her work on the Alaskan language. In 2000, she was the first person honored in the Barnum High School Hall of Fame. Reed died March 5, 2005, at her home in Automba.

In the summers, Reed taught written language and grammar to locals in Bristol Bay, St Mary's and Bethel. In 2003, Reed donated most of her work to the UAF Alaska Native Language Center archives. Alan Boraas, who taught anthropology at Kenai Peninsula College called it the "most significant scholarship undertaken in Alaska". Reed became a member of the Linguistic Society of America in 1945 and a Life Member seven years later.

Irene Reed (Yup'ik: Iitaruaq; February 17, 1931 – March 5, 2005), was an American anthropologist, linguist and educator, central in preserving and promoting the Yup'ik language in Alaska.

Elma Irene Reed was born to Rev. Matt and Edna Reed on February 17, 1931, and grew up in Automba, Minnesota. She came from a large family with sisters Gladys, LaVerne, Betty Jane, Emily, and Helen and brothers Ernest, Arnold, John, Edwin, Raymond, Emil and William who died as a baby. She was educated in Kalevala Grade School and Barnum High School, finishing in 1949. She was of Finnish descent and had an interest in her Finnish roots. She graduated with a degree in anthropology in 1961 from the University of Washington, Seattle. She went on to earn a master's degree in Anthropology and Linguistics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in 1972.