Bethany Kroeze Beckett asked Leah Taylor to be her maid of honor.
“It was my pleasure to give a speech about Bethany’s character and faith in the Lord at their wedding” in June, Taylor said.
“They left for their honeymoon and Mexico,” where Beckett and her husband, Duncan, were doing missionary work.
Last month, Taylor attended Beckett’s funeral in Arlington.
“Bethany’s life continues to affect me, reminding me to take every opportunity to serve God today,” Taylor said. “None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.”
Beckett, 23, died Oct. 25 of a heart attack in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. It was the day before her 24th birthday.
Born in Arlington to Ken and Linda Kroeze, Beckett ran cross country and did Running Start, graduating from Arlington High School in 2005. She worked at Josephine Sunset Home in Stanwood as a nurse’s aide and then as a dialysis technician for Puget Sound Kidney Center.
In December 2008, Beckett left her job and went to Mexico to do gospel outreach.
“She taught in a church school,” said her mother, Linda Kroeze. “She stayed with a missionary family. She was a quick learner with Spanish.”
Duncan Beckett, from Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada, was working as a missionary in Mexico when he met the young woman from Arlington.
“I was impressed with her demeanor,” Duncan Beckett said. “She had a quiet confidence.”
They chatted through Facebook and met again at a Bible conference.
He proposed during a trip to Arlington by leaving scavenger hunt notes that led to the Jordan Bridge, where he was waiting. The couple honeymooned in Jamaica and returned to Mexico in July.
The young woman enjoyed learning to cook in Mexico, he said.
“She made tacos, chimichangas and she entertained,” her husband said. “She cooked for others the week before she died.”
Bethany Beckett appeared to have flu symptoms in June, then had a heart attack at their home. Her husband rushed her to the hospital where she died after suffering a second attack in the emergency room.
Laura Beckett described her sister-in-law as loving, faithful, humble, virtuous, knowledgeable, patient and hopeful.
“The depth of understanding she had for the struggles of others was always evident with her quiet, encouraging manner,” Laura Beckett said. “She made my brother so happy.”
Leah Taylor met Beckett at Arlington Gospel Hall.
“We bonded over Bible studies, hiking and shopping. She had the heart of a servant, and spent a good portion of her time reaching out to youth and the elderly with the gospel. She was trustworthy, loyal and dependable.”
She recalls asking her friend how she liked being married.
“She smiled as she talked about how wonderful and natural it was being around Duncan,” Taylor said. “She had waited on the Lord, and He had given her the love of her life.”
All of Beckett’s bridesmaids attended her funeral, arriving in Arlington from New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and California.
“The hundreds who attended her service bear testimony of how many lives she touched in her nearly 24 years.”
Beckett was preceded in death by her grandfather, William Baker; and grandparents, Gerrit and Annie Kroeze. She is survived by her husband, Duncan Beckett; her parents, Ken and Linda Kroeze of Arlington; brothers, Gerrit, his wife, Christie, their children, Blake, Madison and Shelbie, Craig, his wife, Loraine, their children, Hayley, Matthew, Sabrina, Jasmyn and Chyanne, of Hanford, Calif., Andy, of the family home, and Tim, of New Britain, Conn.; as well as her grandmother, Barbara Baker of Deland, Florida; Duncan’s parents, David and Heather Beckett, and sister-in-law, Laura Beckett, of Sussex, as well as Duncan’s grandparents, J. Roy and Muriel Beckett and Murray and Eunice McLeod.
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451; oharran@heraldnet.com.
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