RITA JANE BECKEY
1922-2019
Rita Jane Beckey passed away on Tuesday, May
21, 2019 at the age of 97 at Methodist Hospital in Sugarland, Texas surrounded by family members. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 18, 1922 and was the third daughter of four daughters born to Michael L. Mayer and Caroline Hesse Mayer. Her grandfather Edward Mayer and her father Michael L. Mayer owned grocery stores in St. Louis. In the early 1930’s her father moved his family to Los Angeles, California. She grew up in Maywood, California where she attended Bell High School. She won her school letter for Girl All-Sports.
Her high school nickname was “Red” and her hobbies were hockey, swimming and diving.
She was president of the Young Lady Society at the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Maywood, California. She graduated from Huntington Park High School in 1941. She worked for Cole of California in Los Angeles, California, making swimsuits and for Vernon Kilns Ceramic Company in Vernon, California painting ceramic plates. At the onset of WWII she worked for Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California as a riveter building B-17 Flying Fortress Bombers. She met her future husband Andrew G. Beckey at a dance at the Palladium, in Los Angeles, California. They were married on January 26,1943 at St. Helen’s Catholic Church in South Gate, California followed by a honeymoon in Palm Springs, California. In 1950 her family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where during the Korean War in 1952 she worked for Honeywell in Minneapolis, Minnesota making the top secret Norden Bombsight.
In 1954 her family moved to Deer Park, Texas. In 1956 she went to work for the Deer Park Independent School District (DPISD) as a school custodian and for the next 20 years raised her four children at 907 Boston Street in Deer Park, Texas. She was a devout Catholic and believed in prayer and miracles which for her occurred often. When St. Hyacinth Catholic Church was established in Deer Park in the mid 1960’s she was one of its first members and celebrated mass there for the next 45 years. She retired from the DPISD in 1986 after thirty years of service. After her retirement and for the next twenty seven years she attended the annual DPISD Awards Banquets where she continued to renew old friendships and make new friends. She was a member of multiple senior citizen clubs to include the Maxwell Center in Deer Park, Texas, The Sunshine Club at the Harris County Activity Center, and the Madison Jobe in Pasadena, Texas. She was a kind, thoughtful and loving mother and a firm disciplinarian. She was forever optimistic in all of her endeavors and was a cheerful person to be around. She made friends easily and was known for forming strong social bonds at work and in her community. She had many “Best Friends.” She always made you feel right at home and would do most anything for you. Her beauty just resonated from the inside out.
She was preceded in death by her father Michael L. Mayer and her mother Caroline Hesse Mayer of Los Angeles, California and her sisters Marie Crow of San Diego, California, Martha Wood of La Habra, California, and her sister Olivia Bleach of Phoenix, Arizona, her husband Andrew G Beckey of Deer Park, Texas and her daughter Sylvia L. Beckey of New York City, New York. She is survived by her oldest son Colonel Andrew D. Beckey (U.S. Army-retired) and his wife Twila of San Antonio, Texas, her son Arthur Jay Beckey and his wife Sherry of Navasota, Texas and her daughter Rita D. Cinquemani and her husband Paul Cinquemani of Missouri
City, Texas and his three sons, Bryce, Josh, and Chris Cinquemani. She is survived by five grandchildren, Mark A. Beckey and his wife Jennifer of San Antonio, Texas, Matthew J.
Beckey of San Antonio, Texas, Nathan Beckey and his wife Ariel of Flower Mound, Texas, Andrea Rudd Ramsey and her husband Chris of Sugarland, Texas and Abby Beckey Potter and her husband Kevin of Montgomery, Texas, and her eight great grandchildren, Anna Elizabeth Beckey, Madeline Claire Beckey, Corinne Elise Beckey, Isaac William Beckey of Flower Mound, Texas, Tanner Jackson Beckey and Brynn Elizabeth Beckey of San Antonio, Texas and Kaine Joseph Potter and Cole Fitz Potter of Montgomery, Texas.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Hyacinth Catholic Church, 2921 Center Street, Deer Park, Texas 77536 at 10:00am on Friday June 21, 2019 and internment at Bethany Cemetery, 8501 Spencer highway, Pasadena, Texas 77506 followed by a reception at St. Hyacinth Catholic Church. A visitation will begin at 5:00pm followed by a rosary at 06:30pm on Thursday June 20, 2019 at the Deer Park Funeral Directors, 336 E. San Augustine Street, Deer Park,
Texas 77536. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made in her name to the St. Hyacinth Catholic Church.