Pharmily Tree: The Reaves Family

Tracing the history of three generations of pharmacists spanning over a century

Story by Emma Ives | Published January 16, 2024

“Moving the pharmacy school from Howell Hall to Beard was interesting but of no real consequence that I remember,” says Hal C. Reaves Jr., BSPhar ’63. While current students at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy would probably never be asked by Dean Kashuba to help move the Shrewsbury Lab equipment across campus, for example, that is exactly what students did in November of 1959. Hal recalls, “We just reported to the lab the first day we had it on our schedule, loaded up some lab equipment into boxes and helped load it onto a truck, then reported to the new labs and helped unload it into the lab rooms.”

Hal Jr. began his studies at the UNC School of Pharmacy in September of 1959, when the School was still located in Howell Hall. During his time at the School, the program underwent several changes including moving to its current home across from the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing. Hal Jr. is a third-generation North Carolina pharmacist, with ten pharmacists throughout his family tree.

 

Leonard “Len” “Lennie” E. Reaves

Hal Jr’s grandfather, Leonard “Len” “Lennie” E. Reaves, started the Reaves Family legacy when he graduated in 1893 after two years of study in the first class of the school of pharmacy at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC, which was just down the road from Chapel Hill. Hal Jr. does not know why grandfather Len pursued pharmacy, but theorizes it was because it was an honest profession that could make a good living.

Len began his career in Waxhaw, NC, where he worked for 12 years before purchasing a store in Raeford, NC. Hal Jr. has no memories of his grandfather Len, but mentions he believes his father and uncles got their good business sense from him. Len and his wife, Martha Estelle “Mattie” (nee Bingham), had seven kids, three of whom also went into pharmacy.

 

Edwin Leroy “Roy” Reaves Sr.

The oldest of Len’s three sons to go into pharmacy, Roy earned a Graduate of Pharmacy (PhG) degree in 1923 from the UNC School of Pharmacy, the first Tar Heel in the family. He owned Reaves Pharmacy in Asheboro, NC. Roy had two sons; Edwin Jr., who was a pharmaceutical representative for part of his sales career, and Charles, who received his Bachelor’s of Pharmacy from UNC in 1952. Charles would eventually take over for his father when Roy died from a heart attack.

 

Leonard E. Reaves Jr.

Roy’s younger brother, Leonard E. Reaves Jr., was the second of Len Sr’s three sons to go into pharmacy. Leonard Jr. graduated from UNC in 1930 with a PhG degree. He operated his father’s pharmacy in Raeford for a while after Len Sr’s death, and eventually went on to own two pharmacies (both Rexall) in Fayetteville, NC, after selling the store in Raeford.

Leonard Jr. produced three pharmacists. Dorothy earned her BSPhar from UNC in 1961. She later married another UNC Pharmacy graduate, Harold Ball, BSPhar ‘56, who was a pharmaceutical representative for Eli Lilly & Co. until he retired. Tommy was the next child to earn his BSPhar from UNC in 1962, followed by his younger brother, Robert, who earned his BSPhar from UNC in 1971.

 

Hal C. Reaves Sr.

Hal C. Reaves Sr., as the youngest of Len Sr’s sons to go into pharmacy, saw pharmacy as a worthy and respectable profession and decided to follow in his father’s and brothers’ footsteps. He graduated from the School in 1939. He continued to operate Reaves Pharmacy in Asheboro until his nephew Charles finished school. Hal Sr. then went on to open his own pharmacy, Reaves Walgreen Agency, which operated in Asheboro for 22 years. According to Hal Jr., his father had an artistic sort of flare when it came to setting up his Walgreen Agency Store in Asheboro. “He used to hand-paint all his sale and promotional signs that would be hung up in the windows, on the doors and around in various places in the drug store,” Hal Jr. shares. “He was really very good at it. I don’t know where he learned how!”

Hal Sr’s daughter, Susan, married a pharmacist, Lewis Cooper, Jr., BSPhar ‘72, whom she met while he worked in Hal Sr.’s pharmacy for a few years. Lewis eventually opened his own store in his hometown of Vass, NC.

Hal Jr. remembers working in his father, Hal Sr.’s, drug store growing up. Not sure what he wanted to do after high school, Hal Jr. applied to UNC. “I spent my four years in Beard Hall trying to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life,” he reflects. “It was during my senior year that we were introduced to the model apothecary type pharmacy counter and other fixtures that resembled a professional pharmacy setting. I thought that was really special.”

When Hal Jr. graduated in 1963, his father had sold his drug store in Asheboro to the Kerr chain after 22 years of ownership, following the death of his mother in December of 1962. In May of 1964, after working in area pharmacies for about a year, Hal Sr. was approached by a drug salesman, who mentioned a new medical clinic opening soon in Pinehurst in need of a pharmacist. Hal Jr. and Hal Sr. embarked on a venture together, opening Medical Center Pharmacy in Pinehurst, NC. Hal Jr. remembers, “[my dad] was itching to get back into ownership and decided to take a giant leap of faith.” The duo started a whole new life with a different type of pharmacy. However, to Hal Jr. it was much like the one he remembered from his time at the UNC School of Pharmacy.

Hal Sr. retired for the second time in 1993 at age 80. He passed away in 1999 on his 86th birthday. Hal Jr. sold Medical Center Pharmacy in 2003 to Eckerd Drug Stores. He continued working for them for three years until he retired in 2006. Hal Jr. has kept his license current, so he can help out his community as a relief pharmacist. He says this year, he most likely will not renew his pharmacy license.

While none of the fourth or fifth generation of the Reaves family have chosen to pursue pharmacy as a career, The Reaves Family legacy in pharmacy stretches over a century. From Leonard E. Reaves choosing an honest profession to provide for his family in the late 1800s, to Hal Jr. who wanted to try something new, the Reaves family has three generations of service to their community. As Hal Jr puts it, “The rest is history and has been the most wonderful adventure in every way.”