Mary Ellen Beyer

Mary Ellen Moore Beyer, 88 years of age, of Omaha, Nebraska, died October 18, 2013, at home from old age. At the time of her death she had lived at The Waterford at Miracle Hills for approximately one year. Before moving to assisted living, she had resided at 803 South 124TH Street since 1963 and in Omaha since 1947. Born on July 28, 1925, in Boone, Iowa, to Walter Luther Moore and Edith Leona (Jones) Moore, Mary attended Morgan Park High School in Chicago, Illinois. She was graduated in 1943 as valedictorian of her class with a 3.972 average. She then attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, transferring to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, to complete a curriculum in Dietetics. She was graduated with highest honors in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science degree. While at Iowa State, Mary was a member of Omicron Nu, the national Home Economics honorary, Phi Kappa Phi, the national scholastic honor society, and Alpha Delta Pi, a social sorority. She also participated in sports, including basketball and baseball. Her husband of 50 years, Albert William Beyer, Jr., was her blind date for homecoming at Iowa State. (His charms included a brand new convertible.) They went to the dance and the game, losing to Oklahoma, 63 to 0. They were married September 6, 1947, in Morgan Park, Chicago. They had four children, three of whom survive, eight grandchildren, and numerous great-children. They built their own home at 803 South 124TH Street, and from 1967 to 2007 they also had a cabin on Lake Okoboji in Arnolds Park, Iowa, where they enjoyed canoeing in the “Queen Mary,” entertaining family and friends, and celebrating the Fourth of July. Mary was a committed, active member of the Disciples of Christ church all of her life, and she and her husband helped conceive, design, and build Faith Christian Church in Omaha. Her recipes were sought after for a series of church cookbooks and her brown gravy was a church staple. Mary had a variety of jobs. She sold toys at the People’s Store in Chicago, served as a nurse’s aide at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Chicago, cooked at a children’s camp, and worked in the misdirected packages department at Marshall Field’s in Chicago. After graduation from high school, she worked briefly as a clerk typist at an army base in San Diego, California, and as a clerk for a janitorial jobber. In college, she worked as a dietary aide in Indiana. After marriage, she worked as a delineator for the US Census Bureau, and for a tax lawyer as a clerk. She also worked at Children’s Hospital in Omaha as a dietitian until her first child was born. She then was a stay-at-home wife and mother until she returned to work at the University of Nebraska Medical Center at Omaha as a dietitian. A life-long learner, Mary attended the University of Nebraska and completed coursework towards a Master of Dietetics. She was a member of AAUW, the American Association of University Women, DAR, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and GOGS, the Greater Omaha Genealogical Society. She also enjoyed membership in a sewing circle of friends and neighbors which met in each others’ homes for decades. Mary volunteered at Omaha’s Child Saving Institute and knitted innumerable booties for the babies there and those of family and friends. Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Walter Luther Moore in 1969 and Edith Leona (Jones) Moore in 1983; her son, Thomas Albert Beyer, in 1989; her husband, Albert William Beyer, Jr., in 1997; and her only sibling, a brother, Robert W. Moore, in 2008. She is survived by her daughter, Katherine Ann Irish and son-in-law, Robert Delane Irish of Columbus, Nebraska; her daughter, Carolyn Jeanne Beyer of Iowa City, Iowa; and her son, James William Beyer and daughter-in-law Carol Ann (Lippold) Beyer of Phoenix, Arizona. Mary also is survived by eight grandchildren, Traci, Todd, Angela, Elizabeth, Amelia, Megan, Trent, and Cassidy, numerous great-grandchildren, and nieces and nephews and two sisters-in-laws, Jean Moore & Marilyn Lytle. Mary was a highly intelligent person who loved reading, genealogy, and gardening. She cherished the dogs in her life. Mary was intensely patriotic and an avid Husker football fan. Funeral Service Friday, 9:00 A.M. at Faith Christian Church, 2201 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE. Visitation Thursday, 5:00 – 7:00 P.M. at Braman Mortuary, Southwest Chapel. Interment Westlawn Hillcrest Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Faith Christian Church at 2201 South 132ND Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68144; the Omaha DAR Chapter at Omaha Chapter NSDAR, C/O Anne Reim, 3618 Terrace Drive, Omaha, Nebraska, 68134; or to a charity of one’s choice. Funeral Service Friday, 9:00 A.M. at Faith Christian Church, 2201 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE. Visitation Thursday, 5:00 – 7:00 P.M. at Braman Mortuary, Southwest Chapel. Interment Westlawn Hillcrest Memorial Park.