Vera M Beebe
November 29, 1915 — May 16, 2015
Vera M. Beebe
Vera Martha Beebe was born on November 29, 1915 to Henry and Dorothea (Prange) Schnieder. She was baptized and confirmed at the Congregational Church of Hallam, Nebraska. She graduated from Hallam High School and also the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
Vera married Verne Beebe on February 12, 1944 in Minden, Iowa. They were blessed with two children Kent and Annelle. Vera spent her life teaching. She taught in Minden, Newton, Council Bluffs and Neola Tri-Center. She believed in the benefits of education and reading and spent over forty years working with the Minden City Library. She stayed in contact with many of her former students and the statement she was the “best teacher I ever had” was quite common. She was an old-school no nonsense teacher and there was seldom a decorum issue in her classroom because her very presence commanded respect.
Vera taught Sunday school, was the Sunday school superintendent and Director of the Junior Choir at the Minden United Church of Christ. Vera enjoyed flowers, gardening, reading and crossword puzzles. Vera especially enjoyed reading to her grandchildren and teaching them to read. Her favorite story was Heidi. She also loved her Raggedy Ann and Andy. She always watched Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Big Joe’s Polka Show, Lawrence Welk. Vera was a member of the Minden American Legion Auxiliary, Delta Kappa Gamma a sorority for school teachers, and served as chapter president, state historian and received the Upsilon State Achievement Award.
Vera’s physical frailty hid an amazing inner strength which existed throughout Vera’s long life. She took life as she found it with the normal ebbs and flows and when she was occasionally “knocked down”. She always got back up, refusing to be defeated. In fact she was the rock to family and friends. Perhaps her greatest legacy was showing others how life should be lived.
Vera died on Saturday May 16, 2015 at Avoca Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Avoca, Iowa having attained the age of ninety nine years, five months and seventeen days. Vera remained mentally sharp to the end and often astounded family members with her amazing memory. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Verne and brother Orin Schnieder.
She is survived by her children Kent Beebe and his wife Kristi of Minden, Iowa; and Annelle Beebe and her husband Julio Valera of Ventura, California; three grandchildren - Alyssa Beebe of Omaha, Nebraska; Alexandrea Beebe of Madison, Wisconsin; and Austin Beebe of Ames, Iowa; nephews Raymond Beebe and his wife Joan of Forest City, Iowa; David Beebe and his wife Kathy of Portland, Oregon; nieces Joan Bredehoff of Columbus, Nebraska; and Lynnette McGill of Waverly, Nebraska, other relatives and many friends.
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Vera Martha Beebe was born on November 29, 1915 to Henry and Dorothea (Prange) Schnieder. She was baptized and confirmed at the Congregational Church of Hallam, Nebraska. She graduated from Hallam High School and also the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
Vera married Verne Beebe on February 12, 1944 in Minden, Iowa. They were blessed with two children Kent and Annelle. Vera spent her life teaching. She taught in Minden, Newton, Council Bluffs and Neola Tri-Center. She believed in the benefits of education and reading and spent over forty years working with the Minden City Library. She stayed in contact with many of her former students and the statement she was the “best teacher I ever had” was quite common. She was an old-school no nonsense teacher and there was seldom a decorum issue in her classroom because her very presence commanded respect.
Vera taught Sunday school, was the Sunday school superintendent and Director of the Junior Choir at the Minden United Church of Christ. Vera enjoyed flowers, gardening, reading and crossword puzzles. Vera especially enjoyed reading to her grandchildren and teaching them to read. Her favorite story was Heidi. She also loved her Raggedy Ann and Andy. She always watched Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Big Joe’s Polka Show, Lawrence Welk. Vera was a member of the Minden American Legion Auxiliary, Delta Kappa Gamma a sorority for school teachers, and served as chapter president, state historian and received the Upsilon State Achievement Award.
Vera’s physical frailty hid an amazing inner strength which existed throughout Vera’s long life. She took life as she found it with the normal ebbs and flows and when she was occasionally “knocked down”. She always got back up, refusing to be defeated. In fact she was the rock to family and friends. Perhaps her greatest legacy was showing others how life should be lived.
Vera died on Saturday May 16, 2015 at Avoca Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Avoca, Iowa having attained the age of ninety nine years, five months and seventeen days. Vera remained mentally sharp to the end and often astounded family members with her amazing memory. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Verne and brother Orin Schnieder.
She is survived by her children Kent Beebe and his wife Kristi of Minden, Iowa; and Annelle Beebe and her husband Julio Valera of Ventura, California; three grandchildren - Alyssa Beebe of Omaha, Nebraska; Alexandrea Beebe of Madison, Wisconsin; and Austin Beebe of Ames, Iowa; nephews Raymond Beebe and his wife Joan of Forest City, Iowa; David Beebe and his wife Kathy of Portland, Oregon; nieces Joan Bredehoff of Columbus, Nebraska; and Lynnette McGill of Waverly, Nebraska, other relatives and many friends.
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