Verona Elizabeth Beech

Funeral services for Verona Elizabeth Beech, age 95, of Meadow Grove, Nebraska will be 2:00 p.m. Friday, December 15, 2017, at BrockhausHarlan Funeral Home in Tilden, Nebraska. John Petersen will officiate, with burial in Emerick Cemetery in rural Meadow Grove, one mile west of her childhood home. Visitation will be Thursday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Verona died Saturday, December 9, 2017, at Heritage of Bel Air in Norfolk, Nebraska. Verona Elizabeth Beech, the daughter of John C. and Dorathea “Dora” K. (Schutt) Duhachek, was born April 16, 1922, at Meadow Grove, Madison County, Nebraska. The oldest child in her family, she helped with farming as well as house work and attended nearby East Emerick School. Boarding in Meadow Grove, Verona attended Meadow Grove High School, graduated as valedictorian in 1939 and received a state teacher’s college scholarship. She taught in Madison County Rural School No. 57, attended Wayne State College, and then continued teaching in rural Madison County. Verona loved teaching and some of her children’s and grandchildren’s favorite memories are of her wholehearted playing and help with craft projects. Verona married Joseph Cassel “Bill” Beech, also of Meadow Grove, on July 4, 1943, at Tucson, Arizona, where he was serving in the Army Air Corps. The couple had two children, Malvern Mark (1945) and Hal Steven (1953). Verona was selflessly dedicated to her family and her marriage lasted for 61 years, until the death of her husband in 2004. She had a quiet, warm personality and a beautiful voice that could be heard and recognized in a noisy room, even though she never raised her voice. Verona and her family lived in Meadow Grove, Lincoln Nebraska, Marshalltown Iowa, St. Joseph Missouri, and Lawrence Kansas before returning to the Beech farm near Meadow Grove in 1973. Verona is survived by her son, Mark Beech and Linda Gray; grandson, Brent Beech and Susan Antolini; step-grandson, Nicholas Antolini; granddaughter, Monica Zylstra; great-grandson, Keith Catt and Shelby Catt; great-greatgranddaughter Kennedy Catt; and by her son, Hal Beech and Mary Ma Beech, granddaughter, Elizabeth Beech; and granddaughter, Katherine Beech. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill; infant brother, Malvin; brother, Raymond; sister Fern Deck; brother-in-law, Norman Deck; parents, John and Dora Duhachek; grandparents, Frank and Mary Duhachek; and grandparents, Henry and Caroline Schutt. Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries. LJWorld.com.