Memorial by Crystal Dunn for her Father, Fred Beach

We found a copy of Cris’ remarks at the time of our dad’s passing. She has ok’d this reprint:

Fred Beach, whose mother called him Freddie, was a happy guy. He was handsome, charismatic, and full of life. He had a love of eagles and frogs, and his favorite color was blue. He was an avid fisherman and loved the ocean.

He enlisted in the Navy as soon as he turned 18 and went to Korea. His mom had to pick up his diploma at graduation and take it to the recruiter. He was a UDT frogman (the first SEAL team). He saw a lot of combat and also received his share of injuries. He had shrapnel all through his back, and a wooden knee. He had teeth knocked out by the butt of a gun, and an ear drum blown from swimming too low after diving from an exploded boat.

Between active duty and reserves he served 42 years. He used to take me to reserves with him. He was very active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars post and loved to help and teach others. I personally thought the idea of him teaching code of conduct classes was hilarious, but the Navy was a huge part of what made him the strong, determined man he was. When his mind was set he had the willpower to see anything through.

When he was younger, he was a professional roller skater and won the Pennsylvania state championship several times. He played bass guitar in a country band, even though he was tone deaf. When he was a teenager, he raced motorcycles, and he has always had one ever since. My parents have traveled across the country on his tour bike a couple of times.

He loved roses and always had a bunch of different-colored rose bushes. He was really happy having his own farm with a huge garden and ducks and chickens. He always had a dog to keep him company too.

My family are converts to the LDS faith and were one of six families to start the first branch in Berwick, Pennsylvania. He was baptized in January of 1973 at the local YMCA and was so excited that he swam the length of the pool. He held many callings over the years and his most recent calling was Sunday School President. He also worked at the Family History Center.

He was very supportive and proud of his children and grandchildren’s many talents of accomplishment. My daddy was my rock, my hero, my superman, and my life will be very different without him.
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We found this document among our stuff recently. It was written by Jacob Beach. There is no date one it, but clearly this is from when he and Emily were still in school together. 

"Oh no, Mr. Bolander mixed it up!" I sighed as I read the room's list. Open house is when we found out that he mixed up the rooms. Emily was going to be in my room, and I was in her room. Inside the school we got papers signed and fixed, junk like lunch, and so on. We finally found Mr. Bolander and got it settled out. He finally got it right. I hated that I was Emily for a day!! It stank on ice!! I even heard a few kids snicker at me. That's what I can remember of returning.

Our grandson Aiden gave his first sacrament talk in church this past Sunday. His mom, Kyra, shared with me his nervousness. She wrote the talk, but he did a terrific job speaking. Here is the text that Aiden shared with the congregation:

Today I have been asked to talk about “How can I as an Aaronic priesthood holder stay on the covenant path.” The covenant path is the covenants we make through life such as baptism, and receiving the priesthood. There are things we do in life in order to be worthy of those covenants. Some things are having faith and keeping the commandments.

President Eyring told a story in his talk “Legacy of Encouragement” that talked about faith. “As my mother told me when I complained of how hard something was, ‘Oh, Hal, of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be. Life is a test.’ She could say that calmly, even with a smile, because she knew two things. Regardless of the struggle, what would matter most would be to arrive at home to be with her Heavenly Father. And she knew she could do it through faith in her Savior.”

President Eyring’s mother knew it was important to have faith and keep trying to stay on the covenant path. The biggest thing is we need to have faith. Faith is believing in something that you can’t see. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father to help through this test of life to help us better keep our promises to them. Along with faith you need hope. “And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope? And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise. Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope. And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.”

We have all the information to have faith and hope in keeping our covenants. We need again to have and use that faith to keep the commandments knowing the Lord wants us to keep our covenants and come unto Him. As a priesthood holder it is important to have faith in the Lord so I can help those around me. I have a responsibility to be an example and strive to be like Christ each and every day. If I don’t do these things then I will not have the Spirit to help others. It is important to be meek and willing to listen to others as I learn to be a better priesthood holder. This means it is good to put others before ourselves and serve others. This helps us have faith and work each and every day and stay on the covenant path.

With faith and hope also comes a love to help others. As we serve others we remember to do those things each day to be a better person and come unto Christ thus staying on the covenant path. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.”

In all things we do each day it can bring us closer to Christ and work to stay on the covenant path. We have this guide in keeping the commandments. Elder Eyring says in his talk, “The commandments and covenants He offers you are not tests to control you. They are a gift to lift you toward receiving all the gifts of God and returning home to your Heavenly Father and the Lord, who loves you. Jesus Christ paid the price of our sins. We may claim that blessing of eternal life if we will have faith in Him enough to repent and become like a child, pure and ready to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God.”
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I know Jesus Christ loves me and wants us to come unto Him. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

During our move process we came across an interesting piece of paper with a poem on it. No name is written. Emily seems to think it was a group effort. Please comment below if you have any insight. Here is the poem, and a scan is above:

Here we come walkin' down the street.
We got no monkeys, but that's what we eat.

Hey hey, I'm the alligator.
I'm just walkin' around.
I comp and bite and swing my tail,
Trying to knock you down.

I'm just tryin' to eat cause,
That's what I live for.
I eat, sleep, and hunt all day now,
'Til I don't as for more.

So just stay out of my way,
Or your doom will be sure
I'm a grumpy camper.
Don't try to ask for more.

During our monthly family meeting over Zoom, the kids decided they wanted an area to post thematic memories. This post will be the area. Each person wanting to add a favorite memory based on the theme we've decided on can simply comment below.

This is Mike pinch-hitting for Michelle. 

My mother’s father is Lester Miller. When I was growing up in PA, he was part of a local country band. My father Fred Beach, and uncle Carl Miller were also in the same band. Carl played the drums and eventually got me started doing the same. My dad played the base guitar. Pap Miller was versatile. He could play pretty much anything he picked up. In the band he was primarily the mandolin player, but he also did some songs on the harmonica. Of all the family, I was the only one who showed any interest in harmonica. I had several of my own starting in middle-school. When Pap Miller died, Grammy Miller gave me all his harmonica stuff. It all came in a case with Pap’s nickname on the outside… ‘Shorty’. It was fitting. The case was full of several dozen harmonicas of varying musical keys. He even left a homemade belt in the case with little pockets in it for carrying many harmonicas on stage with him. Each pocket holds one ‘harp’. I still tinker with playing a little from time to time, but not as much as he did.
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While getting things ready to move from VA to GA, I went through the case and found a number of documents, but the most intriguing are a number of song lists with associated key selections. My guess is when the key is not specifically listed it's probably 'C'. This makes up a sort of library of songs Pap played with the band. It might be a fun project for one of you more musically inclined in the family to find the artists and songs listed just to see what they had in their repertoire. Here are the lists:

A recent scan of Family Search came up with two memories of Frederic A. Beach. These were both posted by Emily (Beach) Coates. 

Posted 11 May 2014
After Grandpa Beach had passed, they were preparing the body for burial. His cart ended up rolling down the hall, and those who were working with him had to chase him down. Imagine the scene!

Also posted 11 May 2014
I remember that Grandpa used to have a little plot of land when he lived in Honeyville. And when I was in high school, he had a chicken that we called Cluckzilla. This thing was just a mean old chicken. One time, Cluckzilla was being mean, and Grandpa kicked it. I don't know how far it went, but needless to say, it respected him a lot more after that.
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We were going through boxes in the basement and found the note below. It's clearly from one of our children during the time we lived in Lincoln, NE. We did a considerable amount of landscaping when we first moved into the home. The effort is clearly what the writer is referring to. We believe we know which of our child laborers produced the note, but it might be interesting if he or she might come clean in the comments section below.

Quite a few years ago I (Michelle) put this jar together. It's simple, but contains a powerful tool. You can see the curled up small pieces of paper. On each one is a task that relates to family history. Periodically we will pull one strip of paper from the jar, write here in this feed what it says, and each family member is to write a comment below in response. We have been holding virtual FHE monthly via Zoom during the pandemic, and this idea was discussed this month (March 2021). We decided to proceed in this manner. So here it goes. 

Tell about your favorite uncle.