Life Story: ‘Mr. Eagle’ Joe Beckman dedicated to work of Granite Falls service club

Published 12:01 am Sunday, August 14, 2011

GRANITE FALLS — Mr. Eagle was a fitting name for Joe Beckman.

He was a tireless worker for the Granite Falls F.O.E. 3358 who sometimes took on too much.

“He was chairman of raising funds for charity, worked at the coffee stop and sold raffle tickets,”

said Jim Murry, his friend. “He was involved with all of it.”

Beckman was the trustee for the club that raises money for scholarships and a variety of medical funds. They offer dinners, dances and Mother’s Day breakfasts.

Beckman through the years had been named Eagle of the Year, Man of the Year and Mr. Eagle for District 9. He enjoyed attending state conventions.

Joseph Francis Beckman Sr. died of a heart attack at age 74 at his home in Granite Falls.

He was born Feb. 3, 1937, and was the youngest of eight children. He was raised on the family farm in Cottonwood, Idaho. He was married four times and had seven children and six step-children.

Beckman fished in Alaska and worked in the construction industry. He moved to Granite Falls for work around 1960. The town reminded him of Cottonwood. He spent his retirement years working for the Eagles and traveling the state to see his extended family.

He enjoyed fishing, gardening and building birdhouses.

During fundraisers at rest area coffee stops, Beckman was known to put in 16-hour shifts.

“I said, ‘We’re too old for this,’ ” Murry said. “He filled in when someone couldn’t do it. He was in charge of the picnic. He had his fingers in everything.”

At club meetings, Murry said, Beckman comically was the one who stood and reported on every special committee. Beckman saw to it the beer garden was fenced in, a horseshoe pit was added, that concrete was poured. He picked up trash on the highway and weeded the beer garden grounds.

Murry took his friend along on a ride to Seattle where a warehouse was being purged of stuff. Beckman noticed a flagpole.

“We could use that at the club,” Beckman said.

With some cajoling, the 40-foot flagpole was installed at the Granite Falls Eagles Club.

If there was anything annoying about Joe Beckman, it was that he wouldn’t slow down, Murry said.

“Let the young people do it,” Murry said to Beckman. “You’re the president.”

A dozen years ago, before they married, Erlene Beckman went to the Eagles club to dance.

“Joe was sitting with people in the dance hall,” she said. “I was enjoying the music.”

He asked her to dance and she said she didn’t know all the steps. Then she asked him for the next dance.

They became partners at the dances, then partners in life.

“He was easygoing,” Erlene Beckman said. “I let him be what he wanted to be.”

She said he was generous, and cared for others.

He treated me like a queen,” she said. He brought her roses several times at her job working for the state.

Her husband was a big eater, she said, and had the proverbial hollow leg. He did the majority of the housework after she retired for health reasons. He enjoyed watching some baseball, wrestling and Westerns, as well as the National Geographic channel and the reality series “Storage Wars.”

Her husband liked to be creative in his workshop and built a pond in their yard. He made feeders for squirrels and birds.

“I’ve got a lot of memories of him here,” his wife said.

Stepson Kent Boda was 14 when his mother met Joe Beckman.

“I grew to like him,” Boda said. “He was outgoing, friendly and personable.

He never ran anybody down, Murry said. He did make one comment, over and over, because he was proud of his roots.

“Don’t eat Washington potatoes,” Joe Beckman said. “Eat Idaho.”

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451; oharran@heraldnet.com.