Jeremiah Reeves

Please click the music button above in memory of Jeremiah.

Celebration of Life

Family and friends are invited to celebrate the life of Jeremiah Reeves on Saturday, October 3, 2026 from 2:00pm - 6:00pm.

Jeremiah will be present for viewing in an open casket.

• Dinner catered by Costa Vida: 3:30pm.
• Military Honors and 21-Gun Salute: 5:30pm
• 
  
• Location: 
• Memorial Redwood Mortuary & Cemetery
• 6500 S Redwood Road, West Jordan, UT 84084

Following his Celebration of Life in Utah, Jeremiah will be cremated. His wife, Danna, will travel with him home to Paragould, Arkansas, where a second memorial will be held with family and friends before Jeremiah is laid to rest alongside his parents.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Jeremiah may contribute to the Jeremiah Reeves Memorial Fund via Venmo. Contributions will help support his Celebration of Life, cremation and final arrangements, travel to Arkansas, his memorial service there, and bringing Jeremiah home to his final resting place.

Venmo: @Danna-Dirkes

Your presence, memories, prayers, and love for Jeremiah mean more to our family than any donation. Thank you for helping us honor him and bring him home.

Jeremiah Reeves was a man who made people laugh, made people feel important, and made the lives of those around him better simply by being part of them. Happy, positive, funny, hardworking, fiercely determined, and always willing to help, Jeremiah had a way of making people feel appreciated. Whether you knew him as a husband, Dad, Grandpa, Sergeant, Leadman, coworker, or friend, chances are Jeremiah made you laugh and probably teased you at least once along the way.

Jeremiah loved his family fiercely. He was a devoted husband and a loving father and grandfather who wanted the people he loved to believe in themselves and become the very best versions of who they could be.

There was one phrase Jeremiah particularly disliked: “I can’t.”

To Jeremiah, a challenge was something to work through, learn from, and overcome. He set goals for himself throughout his life and took great satisfaction in accomplishing them. Whether he was working toward a fitness goal, advancing professionally, solving a problem, or finding a better way to accomplish something, Jeremiah believed in moving forward rather than deciding something couldn't be done.

That philosophy followed him throughout his life and especially throughout a career devoted to service.

Jeremiah proudly served his country in the United States Army for 20 years, from 1997 to 2017, retiring with honors after a career filled with responsibility and leadership.

During his military career, Jeremiah served in numerous roles, including Operations Supervisor, Platoon Sergeant, Drill Sergeant and Instructor-Trainer, Squad Leader and Team Chief, Team Leader and Dog Handler, and Military Police Desk Sergeant.

But the titles alone don't explain what being a Sergeant meant to Jeremiah.

He took tremendous pride in the growth of the soldiers under his leadership. He wanted his soldiers to become stronger, more capable, and more confident. He challenged them, encouraged them, and expected them to discover what they were capable of. Sergeant Reeves lived by the same rule he expected of himself: “I can’t” was not an option.

Watching the people under his command grow was one of the things that made Jeremiah most proud of his military service.

Retirement from the Army did not take Jeremiah away from the military and defense community that had shaped so much of his adult life. He continued working in military, defense, law-enforcement, and federal environments.

From 2017 to 2018, Jeremiah worked as a Control Room Operator with Expal USA in Hooks, Texas, where his responsibilities involved the safe destruction of demilitarized military-grade explosives and ordnance.

From 2019 to 2021, Jeremiah worked at Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas, as a Security Assistant/Police Officer, supporting law-enforcement investigations and performing intelligence, administrative, investigative, and police duties.

In 2021, Jeremiah continued his career in Utah as a Police Officer Supervisor supporting the Utah Test and Training Range through Hill Air Force Base. There he supervised personnel and helped provide security for the people, facilities, weapons systems, ammunition, explosives, and other critical assets associated with the range.

Eventually, Jeremiah's career brought him to Tooele Army Depot, where he began as an Ordnance Explosive Mechanic, working with ammunition, ordnance, and demilitarization.

Jeremiah did what Jeremiah had always done: he worked hard, learned, led, looked for better ways to accomplish the mission, and accepted the next challenge. Within approximately two years, he earned a promotion to Leadman over Demil, the position he held at the time of his passing. He also received an appreciation award in recognition of his outstanding performance, an accomplishment of which he was understandably proud.

Jeremiah was someone who saw a challenge and wanted to conquer it. When he saw a system that could work better, he wanted to improve it. He believed in finding better and more effective ways to accomplish the job, and he was willing to stand up for what he believed was right.

But what mattered to Jeremiah was never simply advancing himself. He noticed people who worked hard. He appreciated the people who helped. He wanted improvements to make things better and easier for everyone around him. He enjoyed the people he worked alongside, and many became much more than coworkers. They became friends.

After his passing, one of Jeremiah's coworkers described the man they had known simply and beautifully: he was always happy and positive.

That was the Jeremiah so many people knew.

Still, accomplishments, ranks, awards, and job titles tell only a small part of Jeremiah's story.

Because Jeremiah was funny.

He loved making jokes, teasing the people he cared about, telling stories and occasionally making up stories of his own. Usually quiet by nature, Jeremiah could become an entirely different person at a family gathering or during a football game. He loved having a good time, making the people around him laugh, and making sure they knew they mattered.

When Jeremiah won something, proved his point, or knew he had you, there was often only one thing left to say:

“BAM!”

Jeremiah loved music and had an impressive ability to identify songs and artists, particularly from the Top 100 hits of the 1990s. He loved Mexican food, comic books, movies, video games, working out, walking, motorcycles, and cars. He loved Arnold Schwarzenegger movies and larger-than-life heroes and characters such as Rocky, Batman, Hercules, Superman, and G.I. Joe.

And then there were the Buffalo Bills.

Jeremiah's love for the Bills began when he was a teenager living in Germany while his father was stationed there. What started as a teenager choosing his football team became a lifelong loyalty. Decades later, Jeremiah was still proudly representing his Bills. He wore something Bills-related nearly every day, usually paired with one of his favorite pairs of Jordans or, when comfort won out, his flip-flops.

On Sundays, there was little mystery about where to find Jeremiah. He was on the sofa watching football, dressed in his NFL best.

Football Sundays were simply part of being Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was disciplined and loved having goals. On workdays, his mornings began incredibly early. He woke at 3:50 a.m., worked out for an hour, and then headed to work for a ten-hour day. He worked four ten-hour days each week, and when he came home, he still took care of chores and the responsibilities waiting for him there.

Weekends brought a different rhythm.

His weekend mornings often began with something simple that he loved: coffee and a book.

On Saturdays, Jeremiah and Danna would decide together what kind of day they wanted. Sometimes they went out and stayed gone until late that night. Other Saturdays became glorious PJ days, spent at home playing PS5, watching movies, cuddling, and simply enjoying being together.

Jeremiah loved getting out and experiencing life. There were canyon drives in his Subaru BRZ, and on Fridays while Danna was working, Jeremiah sometimes took his motorcycle on his Kawasaki Ninja for a ride through the canyon.

Together, Jeremiah and Danna took day trips and weekend adventures in their Lincoln Navigator. They went for walks, watched movies, shopped for comic books for Jeremiah's collection, played games, took drives, and found things to do simply because they enjoyed doing them together.

Jeremiah also loved challenging Danna at Dave & Buster's, particularly at the basketball Four Across game. Competition suited Jeremiah just fine—especially when there was an opportunity afterward for a well-earned “BAM!”

Only weeks before his passing, Jeremiah and Danna returned from a vacation together in Michigan, adding another adventure to a life filled with drives, trips, laughter, activities, and time spent side by side.

As a father, Jeremiah encouraged his children to work hard, believe in themselves, and become the best people they could be. Dad lived by the same rule as Sergeant Reeves:

Never say, “I can’t.”

Jeremiah loved his children more than words can adequately describe.

As Grandpa, Jeremiah's teasing found an especially appreciative audience. He teased his grandchildren about nearly everything, all in fun—and they learned very quickly to give it right back. He loved simply hanging out with them and doing whatever they wanted to do. Some of the best moments didn't require anything elaborate at all. Jeremiah loved tossing a football back and forth with Kameron and simply being part of his grandchildren's lives.

To his wife, Danna, there was another side of Jeremiah that belonged largely to home.

Jeremiah hated being apart from her. If Danna announced she was going somewhere, Jeremiah was likely already putting on his shoes so he could go too.

Danna affectionately called him “my shadow.”

If she ever needed to know where Jeremiah was, she usually only had to look behind her.

There he was.

When Danna was sick, Jeremiah would come into the bedroom, stand beside her bed, and talk to her. He didn't necessarily need something to do or something to fix. He simply wanted to be there with her.

And after spending the day apart at work, there was one thing Jeremiah especially wanted when he walked through the door:

A kiss from his wife.

He had missed her all day and wanted to hurry home to her.

Their life together was filled with adventures, but some of their happiest moments were the most ordinary ones—walking together, playing catch, taking drives, shopping for comic books, playing games, watching movies, cuddling on the sofa, talking, laughing, and simply enjoying one another's company.

They didn't need a special occasion to enjoy being together.

Being together was the occasion.

At night, Jeremiah was tender and affectionate. There were gentle touches, cuddles, kisses, and the affection of two people who genuinely loved being close to one another.

Danna was his “Sugar Booty,” a nickname that captured the humor, teasing, playfulness, attraction, and affection that filled their marriage.

Danna called Jeremiah her shadow.

Jeremiah called Danna his Sugar Booty.

Jeremiah was a devoted father to Holly Reeves, Madison Reeves, Sara Dirkes, and Bryan Dirkes, and a loving grandfather to Kameron Riddle and Natalie Dirkes.

He is survived by his wife, Danna Reeves; his children, Holly Reeves, Madison Reeves, Sara Dirkes, and Bryan Dirkes; and his grandchildren, Kameron Riddle and Natalie Dirkes.

He is also survived by his sister, Patricia Shelby, and her husband, Chris Shelby; his brothers-in-law, Dale Cannoy and his wife, Patricia Cannoy, and Dennis Cannoy and his partner, Arrow Killian; and his nephews, Chaz Cannoy, Mitchell Cannoy, and Preston Cannoy.

Jeremiah was preceded in death by his parents, Norman Jay Reeves and Debora Reinier Reeves.

Jeremiah's life contained triumphs and struggles, accomplishments and disappointments, challenges and victories. He experienced highs and lows, as all lives do.

But no struggle, no difficult season, and no single moment can adequately define the life of a man who meant so many different things to so many people.

Jeremiah's life was so much bigger than its final chapter.

He was a soldier who served his country with pride.

A Sergeant who wanted his soldiers to grow.

A Drill Sergeant who taught others to discover what they were capable of.

A military policeman and leader.

A civilian defense and federal employee who continued supporting the military mission after taking off the uniform.

A Leadman who wanted to leave things better than he found them.

A coworker who became a friend.

A father who wanted his children to believe they could.

A grandfather who played, teased, laughed, and loved.

A friend who made people feel important.

And a husband who wanted nothing more at the end of a long day than to come home, kiss his wife, and be beside his Sugar Booty.

Through all of those roles, the same Jeremiah kept appearing:

Happy. Positive. Funny. Hardworking. Helpful. Determined.

He made people laugh.

He noticed people.

He appreciated hard work.

He encouraged people.

He helped people.

And he made people feel like they mattered.

For those who knew and loved Jeremiah, there will be countless reminders of him: a Buffalo Bills jersey, a motorcycle on a canyon road, a comic book, a pair of Jordans, comfortable flip-flops, morning coffee beside a good book, Mexican food, a favorite '90s song, a football being tossed across a yard, a superhero movie, a PS5 controller, or somebody triumphantly declaring:

“BAM!”

And somewhere in those moments, there will be Jeremiah.

Loved fiercely.

Missed beyond measure.

And remembered for the laughter, love, determination, kindness, positivity, and joy he gave to the people fortunate enough to know him.