Marlene Marie (Kuhl) Beam

1935 — 2022

Marlene Marie (Kuhl) Beam was born on March 1, 1935, in St. John, North Dakota, to Ralph and Evelyn Kuhl. She moved to Modesto, California, as a young girl with her parents and four siblings. She graduated from Modesto High School in 1953. She married her high school sweetheart, Robert Leland “Lee” Beam, they had two children, and together they lived in Twain Harte, California, for 50 years.

Marlene was a person who was dedicated to the community, church and children. She steadily served on the PTA at Twain Harte Elementary, established the grandparent program reading to and engaging with children, and assisted numerous teachers as a classroom assistant. Marlene was a devout member of the church, baptized as a small child in St. John, attending services at the First Methodist Church in Modesto, and served in many roles at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Sugar Pine. She was devoted to feeding members of the church as well as the community.

Marlene enjoyed many hobbies including gardening, dancing, reading, painting and traveling. Most importantly, she loved spending time with her husband, Lee, her cherished children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, family and friends.

Marlene is survived by two of her siblings, Geraldine “Geri” Burns and Kathleen “Kathy” Silveira (Melvin); her husband of 69 years Lee Beam; her daughter, Dawn Beam (Michael Armstrong); her son, Brian Beam (Gwynne); granddaughter Erica Beam; grandsons Charlie Armstrong (Lindsey) and grandson Tom Armstrong; and great-granddaughters Aubrey Tripp and Chloe Tripp.

A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Lakewood Memorial Park.