A Gila County Pioneer went home to her lord in the early hours of May 21, 2021.
Ola Beth Beedle (Sparks, Harris) passed peacefully at the age of 99. She was born on Sept. 27, 1921 in Young. Her parents had come to Arizona by wagon in 1913, arriving at their new homestead on the Fourth of July.
She was the daughter of David and Corrine Sparks, and she had seven brothers and a sister.
She was preceded in death by her parents, all of her siblings and her eldest son, Jimmy Ray Harris.
She is survived by her youngest son Ralph Harris, daughter-in-law Darlene Harris, several nieces and nephews, grandchildren Timothy Harris and Patricia Cannata, and great-grandchildren Andrew, Brandon and Ashlee Harris.
Beth lived in Pleasant Valley/Young for most of her life, but also lived in the Globe area for many years. She married Kenneth Beedle and lived in Claypool until he retired from Inspiration Mining as a foreman and they moved to Young. After he passed, she moved back to the Globe area and for the past 15 years lived with her son Ralph in Little Acres. Beth was a faithful Southern Baptist her entire life, her father having helped build the first Baptist church in Young. Her mother, Corrine, taught Sunday school and later Beth followed in her mother’s footsteps, teaching Sunday school as well in the current Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, which her husband Kenneth helped build. She was an active member of the Central Heights Baptist Church up until a few weeks leading up to her passing. Prior to the pandemic she frequented the Globe Active Adult Center and enjoyed gathering with the other seniors. Beth was friendly, outgoing and extremely active all of her life. She and her husband were members of a square dance group that went to meets all over Arizona. She loved plants, gardening, and to decorate her home and yard. She was very artistic and creative and loved bright colors, especially red. Beth was unquestionably the matriarch of her family, instilling strong values and morals into the family coming along behind her. She will be missed dearly by countless family and friends of both Pleasant Valley and Globe-Miami.
Services will be held June 5 at 1 p.m. at the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.
