Ann McCoy Beath was born on September 9, 1917 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She died Monday, February 23, 2009 at Harbor Hospice in Beaumont of heart disease at the age of 91.
Ann received a Liberal Arts Degree from Stratford College in Danville, Virginia, in 1938 and a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Radio Education from the Cincinnati College of Music in 1949. She subsequently attended the University of Wisconsin where she met her husband, Andy. They were married in a military ceremony on September 15, 1951 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mrs. Beath served at the United States Pentagon in Washington D.C. during World War II as a United States Navy Yeoman Typist First Class. She was preceded in death by her husband Andrew Boulden Beath, formerly of Sierra Vista Arizona, who served in the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps during World War II and later rose through various government positions to the level of Department Liaison Attorney to the United States Senate.
After marriage, she resided in Vienna, Virginia (outside Washington D.C.) before retirement took her and her husband to Arizona in 1973. During those years in Washington she saw first-hand many historical national events - the Funeral of President Kennedy, the the Vietnam Peace Demonstration, and the return of President Nixon from China.
She had been a resident of Atria Collier Park Beaumont since 1998 and will be missed by her friends there. She looked forward to spending every holiday with her family and their friends (especially to desserts), and thankfully was able to do so year after year once coming to Beaumont. And she continued to take a keen interest in politics right to the end of her years.
She is survived by her son, John McCoy Beath and his wife Deborah Kay (Smith) Beath, both long-time Beaumont residents; and by twin grandsons, Willard Andrew Beath (Houston, Texas) and Matthew McCoy Beath (Beaumont, Texas).
The family would like to express our thanks to the staff at Harbor Hospice for their extraordinary caring and support during Ann's stay there.
A gathering of her family and friends will begin at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at Broussard's, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. Her funeral service will be 1:00 p.m. Thursday, February 26, 2009 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church under the direction of Broussard’s followed by burial in Evansville, Wisconsin.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Humane Society of Southeast Texas, P.O. Box 1629, Beaumont, Texas 77704, or to American Heart Association, P.O. Box 7015, Beaumont, Texas 77726.
