MARY ALICE (DEPUTY) BECK

Born June 12, 1932

Married Kenneth E. Beck June 28, 1958

Had three Children Robby, Gladie, & Kitty

Died September 2, 2026

11 years a Wife, 67 years a Mother, and 41 years a Grandmother

Mary Alice was born in Emporia KS the oldest of three girls. Her family described her as an affectionate, sweet natured girl who was loving and thoughtful of others, and an avid reader.

She was a hardworking and enterprising young lady who taught archery at Camp Wood as a teenager and was a telephone operator all through college. She graduated from Emporia High School in 1951 and attended Kansas State Teachers College after transferring from Kansas University after her freshman year. In 1953 she took a break from college and moved to New York City to work at Sperry Gyroscope. Mary Alice returned to Emporia in after a year, graduating KSTC with her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1957.

Mary Alice began dating Kenny Beck in 1957. The two had attended high school together but never socialized until being set up by mutual friends. The couple married in 1958 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Emporia, making them the 3rd generation in her family to be married there.

The couple’s first home was in Kingman, KS, where Mary Alice taught 1-6 grades in a two-room school out in the county, and Kenny practiced law. They moved to Clayton, NM in the spring of 1959 where Kenny became a partner in the Law firm of Krehbiel, Alsup, and Beck, and Mary Alice became a stay-at-home mom to Robby who was born in October of that year, Gladie born in 1961 and Kitty in 1964. Mary Alice was widowed in 1969 when Kenny died suddenly of a cerebral aneurism.

While her children were young, Mary Alice worked from home as the owner of the Union County Credit Bureau. In 1968 she began teaching 6th grade at the Clayton Municipal Schools. After completing her Master’s degree in 1971 she established the libraries at both Alvis and Kiser Elementary Schools. She remained the Elementary Librarian for CMS until her retirement in 2004.

Mary Alice was at her best around books, in her libraries or even bookstores. She was totally confident, with an innate superiority the way other women are in dress shops or make up counters. She had a passion for teaching kids to love books and to be comfortable with reading. She believed books are funny, exciting, and wonderful, and being a reader was the best advantage any one could have. She would scour her libraries and any other resources she could find for a “just right book” for one of her students, especially reluctant readers. She told me once,

“A librarian’s prime function is to match a kid with a book that is so absorbing,

funny, exciting, and wonderful that the child falls in love with it. And, that love

affair will lead to other loves with other books and when that happens the battle

is won. The child will have found a pot of gold. They will have everything they need

to carry them throughout their life”.

After her retirement in 2004 she split her time between her family in New Mexico and Kentucky, finally settling in Kentucky in 2012.

Mary Alice was a devout, lifelong Catholic. Her Catholicism was not a passive identity rather it was the active blueprint for how she lived her life and how she treated the people around her. Her faith was the guidepost that saw her through good and bad times. It was her strength, her peace, and her home.

Mary Alice’s family was very important to her, and she was incredibly proud of each and every one, and there was never a doubt of her love for us.

In lieu of flowers Mary Alice requested donations of children’s books or monetary donations to Alvis or Kiser Elementary Libraries or Thompson Memorial Library in Clayton, NM., St. Leo’s Catholic School Library in Versailles, KY or the children’s library of your choice.

Mary Alice was preceded in death by her husband Kenneth E. Beck and grandson Caleb Beck, and is survived by her children Robby Beck (Gina), Gladie Green (J.D.), and Kitty Martin (Marvin). Her granddaughters Margret Hendricks (Michael), Emily Martin, Hannah Wells (Tom), Sarah Green-Harris (Christopher), Marisa Green, Kathryn Petigrew (Matthew), Elenore Green (Colebrine), grandsons Matthew Martin, Luke Martin (Desirea), Jordan Green (Molly), Nathan Martin (Kiannie), 15 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Services:

Visitation 6:00-8:00 pm Friday September 11, 2026 at Blackburn and Ward Funeral Home, 161 Broadway Versailles, KY

Funeral Mass 11:00 am Saturday September 12, 2026 at St. Leo’s Catholic Church, 295 Huntertown Rd Versailles KY

Services and Burial in Clayton, NM TBA