Bernard Ben “Bernie” Beethe left this world on Monday, March 20, 2023 after a very brief battle with a rare form of liver cancer. He joins family in Heaven and leaves behind loving family in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.
Bernie was born in Yuma, Colorado in 1955 to Alonzo (aka Al or Lonzo) and Dee Beethe. This was just before Al left Yuma with his family to go to work in the oil field in Houston, Texas. Bernie grew up along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana as Al worked for an oil field service company, Pioneer Centrifuging Company. Bernie graduated from Acadiana High School in Lafayette in 1974 and went on to attend Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana Tech with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1979.
Bernie loved spending summers in Yuma working on the farm of Uncle Gordon and Aunt Evelyn Sipple out near Haxtun. He would leave as soon as school was out and head to Yuma. Summers were spent with cousins Clifford and LuAnn. Clifford and Bernie both got the flying bug from Uncle Gordon. Bernie got his pilot license while still in high school and was the youngest licensed pilot in the state of Louisiana at that time. He also learned to crop dust with Bernard and Scott Wall, who became life-long friends. The Louisiana Beethe’s loved to go back to Yuma in the summers for the Yuma County Fair and to see Al & Dee’s dear friends, the Mildred & Jim Vincent family. Chris and Bernie were the only two of Al & Dee’s five children born in Yuma.
In 1979 Bernie married his college sweetheart, Cindy Asbury, and they had two children. Byron Ben Beethe was born in 1983 and Bethany Brooke Beethe was born in 1986. Byron preceded Bernie in death, having died at the age of 20 in 2003.
Bethany married Christopher Warren in 2009 and moved to Thomasville, GA. They now have four children, Griffin & Knox (age 11), Gracen Rose (age 8) and Walker (age 2) and are raising their family in this lovely Georgia town where Cindy also resides.
Bernie married Sen Hoi Yen (Penny) Beethe and adopted Penny’s children, William and Princess. In 1999, Pollyanna Beethe was born and the members of this family reside in south Louisiana.
Princess and her fiancé, Jacob Joubert, live in Addis, Louisiana, and have two children, Rylan Manuel (age 10) and Amrie Joubert (age 7). Pollyanna works and resides in Kinder, Louisiana. William works and resides in Scott, Louisiana.
Bernie’s Texas family includes his sister, Chris Beethe Davis and her husband, Gary, of Tolar, Texas. Their children Josh, of Coleman, TX and Jenny, of Dallas, TX, along with Josh’s son, Bair Davis of Millsap, TX, all loved Uncle Bernie and will miss him at family gatherings.
Bernie’s brother, John Beethe, lives in Granbury, TX and his youngest brother, Curtis Beethe, and his wife, Lisa reside in Fort Worth, TX. Their children, Hannah and Harrison, loved Uncle Bernie. Bernie was so proud when Harrison was drafted by the Kansas City Royals as a pitcher last year. One other brother, Thomas Beethe, preceded Bernie in death, having passed in 2012.
Bernie’s parents, Al and Dee Beethe, both preceded him in death and are buried in Yuma.
Over the years Bernie held positions with Eastman Chemical company in Longview, TX. and Kuantan, Malaysia; Cabot Corporation in Ville Platte, LA, and Westlake Chemical Corporation (formerly Axiall) in Plaquemines, LA.
Bernie retired in 2020 and moved from Addis, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge, to Granbury, Texas in 2021. Bernie moved to Granbury to be closer to siblings in order to enjoy their retirement together.
2023-04-27