Shirley June Beal

Jesus shared:

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
John 17:3.

…Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…  John 14:9

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

In the 1920’s, on her father’s birthday, God blessed Mr. and Mrs. Oates with the beautiful new life of Shirley.  Growing up, Shirley learned of God’s promises and accepted His grace through Jesus Christ.

In 2022, Shirley quietly slipped from that blessed earthly life and per Christ’s promises continues life in eternity in His presence. 

Hospitalized to battle complications of Covid19, granddaughter Meg and son Mike joined Shirley daily to provide comfort and support while son Stephen and other family and friends reached out by phone and internet to share their love.  Through her entire challenge Shirley was supported in prayer by her sons Stephen and Michael, her Grandchildren Jonathan, Meg, Dan, and Becky and their wonderful families along with many friends and extended family who knew of her needs.  In her very last hours Mike, joined by his wife Connie and daughter Becky by internet, was by her side providing comfort reading scriptures, singing favorite hymns, and praying for her peace and well being. 

Shirley breathed her last as Mike read 2 Corinthians 5:8:

…but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Like most lives, Shirley’s was filled with both challenges and joy.  Daughter of a successful business owner/stonecutter Shirley was born into a comfortable living.  Her mother passed away shortly after her birth and soon she had a new older brother, Mother, and in time a little sister.

The great depression turned success to loss and with it came new housing, neighborhoods, and cultures.  Amidst life’s challenges, joy lived on through a hardworking loving family, wonderful grandparents, cousins, and friends.  Memories of the outdoor adventures in Wisconsin shared with her cousin Willard while visiting their sweet loving Norwegian turned American citizen grandmother were told to whomever had ears to hear from childhood through her last years.

Two more loves developed in those years.  One was the love of water.  Shirley was an avid swimmer from early childhood and well into adulthood.  A synchronized swimmer in high school she also taught other students to swim and passed her love for water on to her children early in their lives.

The most important love that she developed in early childhood was the love for her Savior Jesus Christ.  Throughout her life she shared her faith to those that would listen and actively supported each Church that she attended.  She shared the love of her Savior with her husband, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  Through that love the Lord provided strength and peace in her life amidst all challenges.  As the maladies of old age fell upon her she reflected on the hardships that her Lord endured and focused ahead on her future to be spent with Him.

In 1950, shortly after meeting him, Shirley married Eugene Beal, the love of her life for the next 63 years.  Together they raised their sons Stephen and Michael, both of whom continue to cherish their parents to this day.

Shirley and Gene shared a long life together enjoying family and making new friends through work, church, travel, boating, and camping.  New adventures were always on the horizon even into retirement as they purchased raw land and built their retirement home upon it.  Decades later Eugene passed away and with the support of her sons and their families Shirley was able to remain there enjoying her garden along with the wildflowers, humming birds, quail, and the night time calls of owls and coyotes.

Shirley is survived by her sons Stephen and Michael and his wife Connie, grandchildren Jonathan, Meg and her husband John, Daniel, Rebecca, and great grandchildren Titus and Silas.  She is also survived by her extended family, cousin Marion, also 97 years old, brother-in-law Harold, and her wonderful nieces and nephews and their families Judy, Janet, Thomas, Richard, and Robert.

Shirley’s husband Eugene, siblings Richard Lloyd and Patricia passed before her as did Eugene’s brothers Clifford, Leonard, and Kenneth, and niece Kathryn, each of whom she loved dearly.