News, Citizen Profile, Robert "Bob" and Dorsie P. Beech, LaSalle Parish, La. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Submitted by: Craig Franklin of The Jena Times, Jena, LaSalle Parish, La. Thank You to The Jena Times - Signal for allowing the following to be added to the archives. Features Wednesday, September 26, 2001, page 7C A Times-Signal Feature "Citizen Profile" A Very Special Salute Robert "Bob" & Dorsie P. Beech - Citizen Profile Their first date was a train wreck, literally Their first date was a train wreck – literally. But since then they've stayed right on track and this year will celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary. Robert "Bob" and Dorsie Beech live on the Mt. Sinai Road west of Jena. To many LaSalle residents, the Beech's know so many people and are such a large part of the parish that one would believe they've lived here all their lives. But in reality, they did not grow up here and only moved to LaSalle in 1960. Mr. Beech was born on August 10, 1924, in Harrisonburg. His parents were Henry and Amelia Beech. He was one of five boys and one girl born to the family. "My dad had several jobs over the years, including working at his sawmill and opening and closing the bridge at Harrisonburg for years," Mr. Beech said. "He also ran a paper route later on for the Town Talk, a route that I would later take over." Mr. Beech went to school at Harrisonburg and graduated in 1942. He farmed for a while until he was drafted into the Army during WWII. "I spent three years in the service and stayed overseas 28 months," he said. "I was a first aide man in a field hospital and I saw more than I want to talk about." He arrived back home after being discharged on February 22, 1945, and went right to work with his dad at the sawmill for a year or two. "I then moved to Texas and went to work building roads and then went to Galveston where I did mechanic work on Mack trucks," he said. "The company I was working for went out of business, so I came back to Louisiana to see a friend of mine and that's where I met Dorsie." Mrs. Dorsie Parker, as she was known back then, was born on June 7, 1932, in Loretta, Louisiana, which is located just above DeQuincy. Her parents are Lee and Flora Parker. "My dad hauled logs until WWII when he went to work driving a truck for Union Sulphur Company hauling equipment," she said. "I have four brothers and one sister. I was going to Sulphur High School when I met Bob." Mr. Beech, looking for work, went to see Mrs. Beech's eventual uncle (his friend) in Rosin Creek, the place where the Parker family lived. He ultimately got a job hauling logs for Mrs. Beech's grandfather, hauling them on a rubber wheeled wagon for $6 per day in early 1949. And it was during this time that the two would meet for the very first time. "He came over to the house with his friend who was going with my aunt," Mrs. Beech said. "I didn't even notice him. It certainly wasn't love at first sight. In fact, I was going with someone else at the time." But the two would eventually date, and their first date would be one that would be remembered forever. "On our first date, we rode to DeQuincy, just to look around," Mrs. Beech said. "He had never been to this part of the country before, so we were just showing him around." "We were in a 1941 Studebaker and came to a railroad crossing which, back then, had no warnings at all posted," Mr. Beech said. "By the time I saw the train coming it was too late. I turned the car and the train hit us on Dorsie's side. It totaled the car and broke Dorsie's arm. I was skinned up but Dorsie was hurt the worse." Mrs. Beech said that event was scary but it didn't dampen her desire to see Mr. Beech. They would continue to date and on Christmas Eve of 1949, the two were married. Over the course of the next few years, the Beech's would live in all parts of Louisiana, as Mr. Beech found work building bridges. "We lived in Monroe, Baton Rouge, Bunkie, Farmerville, all over," he said. "In 1951, I went to work for City Service Refinery at Lake Charles, and we lived in the Koonce Settlement out of Sulphur." The couple would have four children, Lynda Sue Beech, Timothy Jack Beech, June Marie Gann and Stephen Bruce Beech. When their oldest daughter was just shy of seven years old, tragedy struck the Beech family when Lynda died after falling out of the back of a school bus. "It was a very sad time," Mrs. Beech recalled. "But it also showed us how important family is and the place where you bring up your children."By the time Timothy was old enough to start school, the Beech's decided to move to the secure confines of a smaller community. "We decided that LaSalle and Catahoula Parishes was the best place to raise our kids," she said. "So in 1960, we moved to Jena and took over the paper route that Bob's daddy had ran for years." The couple also started working together hauling pulpwood, and in between all of this, Mr. Beech did some rough necking work for local oil companies. "We worked together in the woods cutting logs and hauling the pulpwood," Mrs. Beech said. "I would work the front-end loader and he would cut and haul the logs to the mills. It was interesting, both of us working together all day long, but we decided that out in the woods he was the boss." In 1988, tragedy again struck the Beech's, when another man stabbed their youngest son, Stephen, to death. "I don't guess there is any way to describe what it feels like to lose one of your children, much less two," Mrs. Beech said. "It just really makes you appreciate what you do have and it makes you want to spend more time with the family that you do have." Timothy lives in Jena next to his parents, and June married Scotty Gann and the two serve as missionaries to an Indian reservation in Nagezi, Texas. The Beech's have five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, which have become the pride of their lives. "When you lose two kids, well, every minute is precious with the rest of your family," Mrs. Beech said. "We love spending time with our children and grandchildren." In 1993, the Beech's started working at the Mission House in Jena. One of their projects consists of gathering items to be sent to Nagezi for the children at the reservation. "We work with June and Scotty doing missionary work at the reservation," Mrs. Beech said. "We'll send gifts, candy, coloring books, etc., to all of the children that June teaches. We'll help get the things together for them and then go out and bring them to them." The Beech's worked nearly full-time at the Mission House for about eighty years, but have since had to cut back their volunteering. They still do things, such as going and getting food for the food pantry, and Mr. Beech still volunteers about three days a week. When asked about their soon to be 52 year marriage and what has kept them together, Mr. Beech responded jokingly that "we never could afford a divorce." "Now don't write that down," Mrs. Beech said. "Seriously, we respect each other's feelings, always went to church together, and we just have fun together. That makes a difference." For years Mr. Beech taught Sunday School and Mrs. Beech worked in the church nursery. "Love and trust God and love and trust each other," Mr. Beech advised young couples. "Respect each other, if you don't have that you don't have anything." Mrs. Beech added that her parents set a great example for how a marriage should be, noting that they have been married for 70 years. "Don't just argue and holler at each other," she said. "We don't believe in all that. You should love each other and treat each other as you would like to be treated." Mr. Beech said that since moving to the parish in 1960, he has made many friends and has friendships that will last forever. "I've got a lot of good friends in LaSalle Parish," he said. "And for the past eight years, I've tried to do my best to help as many people as I possibly can." He also said that being raised has they were, it has caused them to appreciate the many things that God has given them. "We were raised so poor that the poor people called us poor," he said. "When you get older, you get to thinking you're living in the wrong generation." Mrs. Beech agreed. "Mama said we were poor, but really, everybody was in the same shape," she said. "It was just a different era, but it was good. Kids didn't stay in the house in those days and the whole neighborhood was all one big family." As the Beech's grow older together, they find themselves concentrating on things that really matter the most: Family, friends and helping others. "That's what life's really about," said Mrs. Beech. "We want to do our part to help others. That's what it's all about." Whether it's bringing groceries to a friend in need, or traveling miles to bring toys to needy Indian children, the Beech's exemplify God's teachings to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Caption under photo: The pride of their lives . . . For Robert and Dorsie Beech, the pride of their lives is their children and grandchildren. After losing two of their own children through tragic events, the two value each and every precious moment spent with their family. They are shown above holding Aiden Ezra Parker Gann, when he was 18 months old. (See Citizen Profile story.)