My little Mama

Johnny and "Bubbles"

My little Mama

My birth-giving Mama

You go before me

Braver frailty leading on

And I wonder at being knit together in your womb

At loving hands attending my helplessness

And you laboring at leaving

Laboring at dying

Not knowing how because you have always lived

Full and free

My lovely Mama

 I love you always

My Mama went to be with the Lord on February 9, 2011

She was able to be at home when she died. I am blessed to have been beside her with Mike and Dad at her passing and to have seen her trust her soul to the Lord.

Mary Geraldine 'Jerry' Beckman, loving wife, mother and grandmother, passed away Feb. 9, 2011, after a courageous battle with cancer. Jerry was surrounded by her family at the time of her passing. Jerry was born July 16, 1930, to Thomas W. and Mary Fike Ford in Benbush, West Virginia. Jerry graduated from Aurora High School and Morgantown Business School in West Virginia. Jerry married her childhood sweetheart, John H. Beckman. They shared their lives together for 60 years. They had three children, Steve Beckman (Kelly Collins) of Hutchinson, Laurie Beckman Hoag (Mike) of Lindsborg and John Beckman (Cyndi) of Derby. Jerry's surviving family includes: her husband, children and grandchildren, Ben Beckman, Kelsey Collins, Tabitha Hoag Wright, Olivia Hoag Gates, Christine Hoag and Emily Beckman; six great-grandchildren; sister, Arlene (Doyle) Bolyard; brothers, Donald (Anne) Ford and Ray (Julita) Ford; and sister-in-law, Margaret Ford. She was a loving wife and homemaker and a generous gift giver. Life for her was an adventure and she lived it with passion.

Jerry will be sadly missed and always cherished by her family. Jerry was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Cecil G. Ford.
Memorial donations may be made in her
honor to Hospice Care of Reno County.