Franklin H. Beard

Franklin H. Beard, age 87 of rural Decorah, Iowa, died Sunday, August 27, 2006 at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Saturday, September 2, 2006 at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Decorah by Rev. Matthew H. Perkins, with Private Family burial in Phelps Cemetery, Decorah. Friends may call from 5:00-7:00 P.M. Friday, September 1, 2006 in the Friendship Room at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Decorah. Memorials may be directed to Oneota Riverview Care Facility, 2479 River Road, Decorah, Iowa 52101 or Decorah Genealogy Association, 202 Winnebago Street, Decorah, Iowa 52101. Franklin Hammond Beard was born December 27, 1918 in Decorah, Iowa, the son of William E. and Grace E. (Baker) Beard. He attended Blount Country School and graduated from Decorah High School with the Class of 1937. Frank attended Luther College in Decorah for one year and Dunwoody Technical School in Minneapolis, MN for special training. He was united in marriage to Laura Elizabeth Bershee on January 1, 1945 at the home of Laura’s aunt and uncle in Burlington, Iowa. To this union five sons were born: James P. “Jay”, Brian R., F. Benjamin “Ben”, Robert “Rob” and Rollin E. Frank farmed for many years until his retirement. Frank, his father and two brothers, won the Iowa Sweepstakes Award for Conservation Farming in 1956. He and his son Jay, built most of his retirement home on the home farm on the west edge of Decorah. Frank was a life long member of the Congregational United Church of Christ in Decorah, where he served as trustee, deacon and was a member of the search committee. He served as a Decorah Township Trustee for forty years and helped organize the rural fire board. He was a longtime member of the Phelps Cemetery Board and the Winneshiek County Pioneer Cemetery Commission. Frank was a member of the Decorah Genealogy Association and the Winneshiek County Historical Society. Frank loved the outdoors and enjoyed working outside, including gardening and mowing yards. He enjoyed wood working and feeding the birds year round at home. Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Laura of rural Decorah; four sons, Jay and his wife Marilyn of rural Decorah, Ben and his wife Mary of Kings Valley, Oregon, Rob and his wife Jodi of Corvalis, Oregon and Rollin of rural Decorah; thirteen grandchildren; sixteen great-grandchildren; a brother, William “Bill” Beard of rural Decorah and several nieces and nephews. Frank was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Brian in 1995; a sister, Barbara Beard; a brother and his wife, James and Killy Beard.