Beth Rankin passed away on September 14 of this year. Her husband had made arrangements for a Memorial celebration which took place this last Saturday (Oct 25th). She is quite loved and respected by many. Beth grew up in the Jewish faith and remained true to her Jewish legacy by never converting over to Christianity – at least by baptism. Beth and Graham attended a Christian faithed church. Her services were conducted at the Cooperative Ministries in McMinnville – where they had attended for the last twelve years from what I understand. Though she had been devout about attending services She was quite adamant that everyone knew that she was Jewish.
The services were beautiful full of tributes, memories and pleasure. Beth has had a positive impact on just about everybody she meets. I have mentioned Beth in at least ten posts – and unlike all the aliases I’ve given to most of my “characters” I have always referred to Beth and Graham by their actual names.
Richard knows her from high school band. I met her in August of 2013 after she and Richard reconnected through facebook. She and Graham had been driving through Salt Lake City on their way to Oregon. We all had lunch together at the Firehouse subs near Richard’s place of work and the hospital where my mom was a patient. We came out to Oregon for a visit and look for housing during Jaime’s spring break in 2015. We moved to Oregon just a few months later.
Beth lived in McMinnville and we’re in Myrtle Creek – about 180 miles apart. She had driven the three miles to help us settle in which Richard and I greatly appreciated. We didn’t often visit with one another in person but we had gone to McMinnville three times and she visited us three times. The last event we had planned was for a Passover that never took place as the year we had scheduled was 2020. I’m sure the reader can guess how that turned out.
On three tables was a display of Beth’s handy work in the form of whatever she sewed, hand-crafted or organizations she was a part of. There were signs that directed patrons to “take something that reminds you of Beth”. Richard spotted a tote bag which reminded him on one she had made for Jaime when she was 11 years old – one which she picked out the fabric. I remember Beth had posted it on facebook and gave credit to Jaime for coming up with the design. Here is the bag she made for Jaime
and the bag that we retrieved from the memorial.
It really was a fun celebration which I think honored Beth really well. And a slide show with pictures of Beth and those she loved. It was really beautiful.
