Deanna Lynn Reeves was born in Alton, Madison County, Illinois to Dean Collier Dugan and Jeannine Mayfield Dugan in 1948. Most of her rearing was in Bond County Illinois where she attended Smithboro Grade School and Mulberry Grove Junior and Senior High Schools. She married Ronald Dean Reeves in 1966. Shortly after their marriage Ron took a position with Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Hillsboro Illinois and they moved there. Two sons were born to the couple while living there, John Ashley and Steven Darin. Deanna studied for and passed the Illinois Real Estate Salesman Exam and opened a branch office for Wall Real Estate in Hillsboro. She then took the Illinois Real Estate Broker Exam after completing the required two years as a salesman. In 1970, Sears opened a catalog and appliance store in the neighboring town of Litchfield and Ron was named the manager, so the family moved there. Deanna opened Reeves Real Estate until 1973 when their daughter Laura Lee was born and she became a stay at home mom for a while. In 1976, Ron's work with Sears took the family to Rantoul, Illinois, but by the late 1970's, Ron had decided to go into business for himself. In 1980, the couple returned to Litchfield to open Litchfield True Value Hardware and Deanna became the bookkeeper for the business. This was a family run business for almost 25 years and in August 2004, Ron and Deanna retired and leased their property.

In retirement, Deanna has become the family genealogist and volunteers for the Montgomery County Genealogical Society. She is very interested in DNA research and has enjoyed traveling to several foreign countries.