Paul and Cornelia Reeves pause for a photo at their office in Sparta. The couple recently retired after 30 years in the real estate/ auction business.

Paul and Cornelia Reeves retire, look back over years in real estate

Paul and Cornelia Reeves reflected recently on their 30-year career together in the real estate/auction business. "I tell people, it's been a wonderful life; we've had a good time," said Paul Reeves. He added with a sly grin, gesturing toward his wife Cornelia, "The last two or three years, she's been bossing me a little, though."

The Reeves retired, effective last week, from the full-time real estate business.

"We just want to do a little more traveling. It's time to retire after 30 years," said Cornelia Reeves. "Paul likes to hunt and fish, and I like to garden." The couple also looks forward to spending more time with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Both are originally from Alleghany County. Paul Reeves also lived in Winston-Salem and King for short periods of time; he worked for the U.S. Department of Justice for a little more than a year.

He was dating Cornelia Reeves' cousin Frances when the couple first met. "I had a cookout in high school and my cousin brought him," Mrs. Reeves said.

"The first time I met her, there was something special about her," Paul Reeves recalled. "It was different from anybody I ever met....

"We've been blessed to have a real good life together; we started out with nothing....We've been married 46 years and worked together almost 30."

"That's a lot of togetherness," remarked Cornelia Reeves.

Farming to Real Estate

Before getting into the real estate business, Paul Reeves was a produce farmer, he said, the first in the county to deal with the Hollar and Greene produce trucks. "I had a good year in 1966; in 1969 I had another tremendous year."

However, he added, "You could sort of see the way things were changing with farm policy. I thought I would go into real estate....I started out part-time. I kept farming and thought I would do this in the wintertime. I soon realized I couldn't do both."

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