Claude Melvin Reeves Baniakas, 85, formerly of Pensacola, FL died on Friday, May 30, 2025, at Kirkwood by the River retirement home in Birmingham, AL.

Claude was born in Selma, AL on October 17, 1939, to Archibald Thomas Reeves Jr. and Martha Mallory Reeves. After completing public schools in Selma, she attended The University of Alabama, graduating in 1961 with a BA in Education. She was a member of the Zeta Chapter of Kappa Delta sorority at The University of Alabama. She began her teaching career in Pensacola, FL, then moved to New York City where she taught in public schools in Queens under principal, Dr. Thomas Guilford. Claude returned to Pensacola and continued her teaching career in Social Studies for more than thirty years. She married Perry Steve Baniakas Sr. in 1993.

They spent twenty-five happy years in their home on Pensacola Bay until his death in 2018. Claude moved to Kirkwood by the River in October 2023.

During her childhood, she loved horses and was an accomplished competitor in three- and five-gaited horse shows, winning blue ribbons throughout the Southeast. In their retirement years, Claude and Perry Sr. enjoyed hunting, fishing, gardening, cooking, entertaining, and traveling.

She is survived by her brother, Hugh Mallory Reeves (Martha); her nieces, Alice Reeves Goepfert (Paul), Martha Reeves Cook, Claude Reeves Arrington (Jason); her nephews, Hugh Mallory Reeves Jr. (Blair), Archibald Thomas Reeves IV (Shannon), Allen Smith Reeves (AC), Edgar Stewart Reeves (Amy); as well as numerous great nieces and nephews.

Though Claude had no children of her own, she will be fondly remembered by many former students in Pensacola and beyond. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends for her love for them. A beauty with brilliant blue eyes, Claude was a fun and vibrant woman filled with a zest for life.

A memorial service was held at Independent Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Susan Clayton officiating.