Charles Beekley was indeed a man of God who, by example, preaching, and counseling, brought Christian love to all who knew him. He died on August 11, 2022, after a years-long struggle with various health issues.
Charlie was born in Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, on September 28, 1945. The Beekley family, due to Reverend Eugene Beekley’s vocation as a pastor and then a Chaplain in the Air Force, moved throughout Charlie’s childhood, spending time in Ohio, Indiana, New York, Korea, and Sarasota until 1961, when the family, including mother, Margaret, and brother, Philip moved to Incirlik Airforce Base in Turkey. Before Charlie returned alone to Peru, N.Y., to attend his senior year with his past classmates, he traveled with the family from Turkey to visit Syria, Jordan, Jerusalem, Beirut, Egypt, and Cyprus. After graduating from high school in Peru in 1963, Charlie rejoined his family at Chaplain Beekley’s new assignment at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, from where Charlie enrolled at Ashland College (now University) in Ashland, Ohio, graduating in 1968. Charlie received his draft notice immediately after graduating and joined the U.S. Army as a medical corpsman. Before reporting to military training, Charlie married his fiance, Linda, on January 27, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio, at Highland Christian Church in a service officiated by Rev. Eugene Beekley after a four-month engagement. They enjoyed a three-day honeymoon in Mansfield, Ohio, after which Charlie reported to Basic Training at Fort Knox on January 31, followed by Advanced training at Fort Sam Houston. Charlie served during the Vietnam War in Germany, where Linda joined him from August 1968 to September 1969. When Charlie returned home in November 1969, he returned to a new home with his wife in Ashland, Ohio, where he worked as a professor in the Radio and Television Department at Ashland University. He would later work as an announcer and station manager at WVNO in Mansfield before answering his calling from the Lord to begin seminary and a career in pastoral care. Charlie enrolled at Ashland Theological Seminary and worked as the director of Christian Education for the Brethren Church.
Charlie and Linda welcomed their son, Tim, on October 20, 1981, to their family while still in Ashland, Ohio. The Lord’s calling to plant a Brethren Church in Maryland would bring them to Frederick, Md. In 1990 Charlie would continue his ministry at Trinity United Methodist Church in Frederick and later Bush Creek Church of the Brethren before his retirement due to health issues. In 2012, he and Linda joined now married adult son Tim and his family in Mooresville, N.C. In his retirement, Charlie continued to bless couples through the ceremony of marriage and counseling services. He also found a church home at the Cove Church, where he served on the Production Team and the Care Team, praying for and supporting countless of his brothers and sisters in Christ. In his final year of life, it was this church family that upheld Charlie and Linda through his final earthly struggle. Even illness and cognitive decline failed to lessen Charlie’s faith that was apparent all around him. When words would otherwise fail him, Charlie still had lungs to sing praise and breath to lift others in prayer.
Charlie was predeceased by his father, Chaplain, Lt. Col. (USAF Ret.) Eugene J. Beekley; mother, Margaret G. Beekley; infant brother, John A. Beekley, and infant sister Cynthia L. Beekley. He is survived by his wife Linda, his brother Capt. (USAF Ret.) Philip C. Beekley and Philip’s wife Lisa of San Antonio, Texas, son Tim and Tim’s wife Amy, with grandsons Micah, Eli, and Caleb, all in Mooresville, N.C.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 20, 2022, at The Cove Church, Mooresville.
Cavin-Cook Funeral Home & Crematory, Mooresville, is serving the family. Condolences may be made to the family at www.cavin-cook.com.