Lydia Beckman

October 24, 1924 – May 25, 2015

Lydia Vita Larsen Beckman passed away peacefully at home on May 25, 2015, following a ten-month struggle with colon cancer. She was born on October 24, 1924, to Rev. C. B. and Abelone Larsen in Worchester, Massachusetts, soon after they emigrated from Denmark. The family moved on to Penn Yan, New York, and then to Blair, Nebraska, when her father joined the faculty of Dana College and Trinity Seminary. Lydia graduated from Blair High School in 1942. She attended Dana College for one year and received a B.A. degree from Augustana College, in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1947, with a degree in education and social studies.

At Augustana she met Peter Beckman, and they were married on August 5, 1948. After a trip to the Oregon Coast, they returned to Rock Island, where Lydia taught at an elementary school while Peter completed college and seminary. Their first child, Peter III, was born in 1949. Peter was ordained as a Lutheran minister at Rockefeller Chapel in Chicago in 1953. Peter’s assigned parish was to establish Grace Lutheran Church, a mission congregation in Needham, Massachusetts. Their two daughters, Margaret (Megan) and Laura, were born in Needham. After serving a congregation in Great Falls, Montana, they moved to Chicago in 1959 when Peter began a Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago. The following year the family moved to Rock Island, where Peter taught in the religion department at Augustana College and Lydia taught part-time in Rock Island.

Lydia resumed her full-time teaching career in 1970. For 17 years she taught third grade at Ridgewood Elementary, a time of great professional and personal satisfaction for her. She retired with many affectionate accolades from colleagues and former students in 1987.

Lydia and Pete traveled extensively, visiting every continent but the two poles at least once, often with members of their wide and enduring circle of former classmates, colleagues, and friends. They moved to Tucson, Arizona, in 1998, where they enjoyed the desert beauty and happy times with extended family. In 2005 they moved to Bainbridge Island, Washington. They became actively involved in the congenial and supportive community of Bethany Lutheran Church. Lydia also enjoyed participating in book discussion groups and Bible study groups with Bainbridge friends.

Restricted by acute arthritis in both ankles and complications from a failed ankle replacement, Lydia was increasingly limited in her mobility. Nonetheless, she maintained a keen and highly knowledgeable interest in sports as well as in progressive politics and current affairs.

Lydia is survived by her loving family: her husband of 66 years, Peter; son Pete (Jan) of Ottawa, Illinois; daughter Megan (Paul Benton) of Bainbridge Island, Washington; daughter Laura (Chris Bjornson) of New Albany, Indiana; grandchildren Kate, Mike, and Maggie Beckman and Marie and Marta Bjornson; sister Agnes Paulsen of Tucson, Arizona; brother Ezra Larsen of Boulder, Colorado; and brother Phil (Florence) Larsen of Blair, Nebraska; and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at 3pm on June 14 at Bethany Lutheran Church. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Peter T. and Lydia V. Beckman Scholarship at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, or to Bethany Lutheran Church on Bainbridge Island.