Muriel Beale, January 5 1912 - July 31 2007

I know some of you who check the blog knew my grandma, many of you from our wedding in 2004. She passed away early last Tues. morning of cancer and this is the photo my parents chose for the paper. This picture was actually taken at our wedding by Kristin Bednarz and is my favorite of her. Jonathan and I went to Lubbock for the funeral last week and just returned from the Arkansas burial yesterday. For those of you who didn't see her obituary, I thought I would print some of it here.
Born Wilna Muriel Morris on Jan. 5, 1912, in Blue Mountain, Ark., she graduated from high school in Batesville, Miss. in 1930. She married Vernon Gatlin Beale on May 18, 1937, in Memphis, Tenn. He passed away April 8, 1963. An accomplished pianist and organist, she taught piano, organ and voice and served as church pianist/organist for many years in Arkansas and Oklahoma. She retired from civil service in 1977 after 15 years at Tinker AFB in Midwest City, Okla. so she could pursue her passion for gardening. She earned the title "Master Gardener" from the Oklahoma State University Extension Service and spent many happy hours in her garden. She moved to Lubbock in 1997 to be with her son and his family. She resided at Carillon.
She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents, Walter and Ocie Morris; three brothers, Neale, Jack and Keith; and a sister, Avis. She is survived by her son, Elmus Gatlin and wife Elaine of Lubbock; two grandchildren, Emily Alexander and husband Jonathan of Crandall and Julia Allison Beale of Kuroishi, Japan; her first great-grandchild who is due to arrive in October; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

My grandfather, Gatlin Beale....

Some photos from the burial....

We had a decent little group at the burial. My aunt (my mother's sister), uncle, cousin, and her daughter were there, as well as a couple cousins of my dad's and some old friends of my grandma's. After the service in Booneville, we drove down the road to Blue Mountain where my grandma was born and many of our ancestors are buried to visit the cemetary there.

Dad and his cousin Betty looking for relatives in the cemetary registry

One of our ancestors buried there is my great-great-grandmother whose maiden name was Mae Flower Shipp.


Betty's husband Daryl and my Uncle Mark getting water for everyone. It was pretty humid.

Trying to keep cool....

All of the girls except my sister had decided on polka-dot dresses to wear (all unplanned), so my cousin Jen lent her a polka-dot dress to match. Here's my bump at 8 months.

A group picture of everyone who attended the service at the Blue Mountain Cemetary.