Beulah Mae Beadles, 95, passed away Wednesday, December 1, 2021, at Medicalodges in Great Bend. She was born on a farm near Eakly, Oklahoma on March 5, 1926. She was the eighth and youngest child of the Reverend Luther W. and Jessie Mae (Brisendine) Skaggs. She married Carl Beadles in Custer City, Oklahoma on July 22, 1947.
Left to honor her memory are her two sons, Lonnie (Charisse) and Kenney; four grandchildren; and seven great grandchildren. Those who have gone on before to make a place for Beulah include her parents; her husband Carl; six brothers, Lewis Skaggs, Floyd Skaggs, Eugene Skaggs, Leslie Skaggs, Luther W. Skaggs, Jr., and Calvin Skaggs; and a sister, Gladys (Skaggs) Davidson.
Growing up on a cotton farm in Caddo County, Oklahoma, Beulah began the difficult job of picking cotton by hand, milking cows and feeding livestock at an early age. Almost six feet tall, she played center on the Eakly, Oklahoma high school girls’ basketball team in the early 1940’s. She helped lead the Eakly girl’s team to a district championship in 1943.
Beulah was a homemaker until her sons were old enough to go to school. That’s when she found the career she loved. She worked in the EKG/EEG Department at the Central Kansas Medical Center for more than 20 years. Her professionalism and compassion for patients made her an important part of the CKMC medical team.
Beulah was a den mother with Pack 184 (sponsored by Trinity Lutheran Church), Sunday school teacher at First United Methodist Church in Great Bend, member of the Washington Elementary School PTA, American Legion Auxiliary, and Foundry Methodist Church.
During her retirement, she especially enjoyed the many trips to the Wichita Community Theatre, Branson and many other locations hosted by Mary Bender at the UMB Bank (now Landmark Bank). She also enjoyed helping with many projects at Foundry Methodist Church. Although an Oklahoma native, she became an ardent fan of the University of Kansas men’s and women’s basketball teams. She loved the people of Great Bend and Barton County and felt she was fortunate to spend most of her life in the Golden Belt.
For the past several years, Beulah suffered from crippling arthritis and many other ailments. It is a comfort to her family and her friends to know that she was healed Wednesday night in the presence of her Savior.
Visitation will be held from Noon to 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 7, 2021, at Bryant Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at Bryant Funeral Home, with Pastor Aaron Withrow presiding. Interment will be in the Great Bend Cemetery. Memorials have been designated to Foundry Methodist Church, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.