Wilson R Beasley

Dick was born December 9, 1947, in Fort Worth, Texas, to Richard and Louise Beasley, and grew up in Dallas. He was bright and curious from the beginning, becoming an Eagle Scout while still young. He loved people and could talk to just about anyone, a gift that stayed with him his entire life. He had an incredible memory, a quick wit and usually a joke ready for whatever the occasion called for (and probably a few it didn’t).

Dick met Karen on a blind date in Dallas, in the summer of ‘69 and apparently the date went pretty well because they married on December 26, 1969, and spent the next 57 years building a life together. It was a life full of family, laughter, stories, spirited conversation and all the ordinary moments that, after so many years, become the important ones. Through it all, family was the center of Dick’s world.

Dick attended East Texas State University, though he much preferred telling people he went to Texas A&M, a long-running family joke made possible when the university later became part of the Texas A&M system. He used to say, “Do you know what they call a Texas A&M graduate?... Boss.” He served in the Army before beginning a long career in corrections, serving as Northern Regional Director of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and later retiring as Director of Community Corrections for Harvey and McPherson Counties in Kansas.

One of Dick’s more memorable career adventures had nothing to do with titles or offices. For a time, he owned a junk store in Mineral Wells, which suited him wonderfully and as a added benefit his son Chris helped. He loved the store, loved the people who wandered through it and certainly didn’t mind having a perfectly legitimate reason to bring home things other people had decided they no longer needed.

Dick loved football, particularly the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs and enjoyed friendly bets on football and basketball games with his “Coots” buddies, some of whom had been part of his life for decades. Music was another constant. He loved classic rock but kept up with newer music too and his children remember a house where something was almost always playing. He loved movies and live theater as well and there was rarely a shortage of something to watch, listen to, talk about, or have an opinion on… And Dick did have opinions.

He was smart and funny, caring and generous, sometimes quiet and sometimes the life of the conversation, serious when he needed to be and mischievous when he didn’t. He could also be wonderfully stubborn. He was never particularly shy about saying what he thought, especially where politics were concerned and whether you agreed with him or not, the conversation was unlikely to be boring. He shared what he knew freely, made people laugh easily and had a way of making people feel welcome in his company.

Dick is survived by his wife of 57 years, Karen; his children, Joelle Beasley, Chris Beasley and wife Kendra, and Jennifer Beasley; his grandchildren, Andrew Niedecken, Ashley Beasley, Jordan Niedecken, Aaron White, Adam Beasley, Addison Beasley, and August Gall; and David and Janice Tramell, who were family in every way that mattered. He will also be deeply missed by the many friends and extended family whose lives became woven into his over the years, including his beloved four-legged grand pup, Jericho.

Dick’s life will be celebrated privately with family and close friends.