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In memory of
Earl Maurice Beck
August 2, 1935 - July 21, 2020
Aug 2, 1935 - Jul 21, 2020
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Earl's obituary
Earl was born in Axtell, Kansas, raised as a proud farm boy, the oldest of three sons of Frank and Marie Beck. His ancestors were “Manifest Destiny" settlers from Germany and Ireland, and he enjoyed spending time in genealogy work, industriously tracing his ancestry and sharing his work with the rest of the family. He went to high school in Silver Lake, and was the starting catcher of the 1953 state championship baseball team. He graduated from Kansas State University where he was president of his collegiate fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha. He then served for a time in the National Guard.
In 1960 he married Patricia Myers, and they had two sons, David and Patrick. Shortly after Patrick was born they moved to California, first dwelling in San Mateo. In 1972 he and Patricia divorced, and in 1976 he married Thelma Gibbons in a beautiful ceremony at a chapel in Carmel Valley. In 1981 they established their lives in Oxnard near Silver Strand beach close to Port Hueneme. When they bought the house they essentially had to remodel the entire thing, and with some help from his son Patrick, Earl worked laboriously to turn it into a wonderful residence. They lived there until 2017 when they moved into a senior living facility.
Earl’s professional life began with stints at the local power and light company, the Dictaphone Corporation, and his uncle’s department store Bergmann’s in San Jose. Eventually he would land at Burroughs (now Unisys), a computer systems company. He was an accomplished sales manager, earning several honors for his work there. He ended his career there as an instructor for young sales persons. He also enjoyed being an active member of Toastmasters and participating in all their events.
He and Thelma purchased rental properties, and Earl spent much of his retirement activity caring for those units. He was always exceptionally attentive to the care he provided for his tenants. One of those properties was in Salinas, 250 miles away from Oxnard, and he took several trips there every year just to make sure everything was in good working order. His son David lived for a time in the Bay Area and often drove down to join him in the upkeep.
Earl was an excellent handyman, exceptional at fastidiously planning, constructing, and completing the most marvelous projects. When living in San Jose he built a terrific clubhouse for his sons and their friends. When they moved to Salinas he did the same thing. When David and his family moved into a new home in 2002 right away he came out and built a clubhouse almost exactly like the one he built in San Jose. His grandchildren loved it.
He loved everyone in his family very much, and he was always someone who wanted to give and do the things he did well to make someone else’s life just a little better. There were dozens of instances when he recognized someone was in need and he knew he had the ability to meet that need, he did it, and he never asked for any attention or accolades. He was passionate about making sure his family and friends were cared for.
Earl enjoyed attending all of his children and grandchildren’s major life events, and often went long distances to be there. On one such occasion attending a scholastic competition event, a participant made special note of how proud he was of his grandchild and how much he gushed over the entire team’s accomplishment.
He also spent time enjoying going places with his family. He was always arranging something for them to enjoy together. Among the many excursions with all of them was a trip to Disney World in Florida when David and Patrick and their families all spent a week together enjoying the parks in Orlando. A few years later they all were able to spend a week together in Maryland to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam – Earl was very interested in the Civil War as he had ancestors who fought with the Union army.
Earl and Thelma also loved visiting a number of places around the world. His favorite place to go was Hawaii, and in retirement they planned a trip there almost every year. His most heartfelt destination was Ireland, and he had many books on the country and photo albums chronicling the experiences he had in the land of his forefathers.
He was active in so many things throughout his life, including scuba diving, Hobie Cat sailing, and for a time earning his pilot’s license and flying.
One of Earl’s interests was model trains, and in his later years he would help with maintenance and serve as a “train conductor” at the Murphy Auto Museum and at the Ventura County Fair. He also had a fascination with seafaring, and for a time was a docent at the Ventura County Maritime Museum by the harbor near his home. He was also very giving – one of the charities near to his heart was Guide Dogs of America, an organization that trained and assigned seeing-eye dogs for the blind. His family would sometimes join him to watch the exhibitions they would have for the “dog graduations.”
There was so much more to him than can be written here. He was a man of depth, character, and compassion, and was full of great wisdom that touched so many people
Earl is survived by his wife of 44 years Thelma, two sons David and Patrick, their wives Stephanie and Deborah, a stepson Rod (another stepson Randy passed away in 2007), and eight grandchildren Tristan, Evan, Britta, Cameron, Bryson, Amanda, Jake, Wyatt, and two great grandchildren. He is also survived by his two brothers, Glen and Ralph.
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David Beck.
