Obituary of Dorothy Valerie Beedle
Dorothy Valerie LaBerge Beedle, 84, of La Grande and Desert Hot Springs, Calif., died March 10 at her daughter’s home in Portland. During her last days, Dorothy was attended by her her husband of 62 years, and her children. With all of their efforts, they were a tight-knit loving family up to the very end, providing the end of life care that honored Dorothy’s wish to die at home. The day she passed was also the birthday of her beloved father, Conrad, and her lifelong best friend, Joyce.
Dorothy was born on June 30, 1928, to Conrad and Marie Stella (Porter) LaBerge, at Cleveland, Ohio.
When she was 10-years-old, the family moved to Los Angeles, Calif. Dorothy spent her youth chasing after her older brothers, Les and John, and dreaming about a career as a registered nurse. Following her graduation from Hamilton High School in 1946, Dorothy enrolled at the Hospital of the Good Samaritan Nursing School in Los Angeles.
Her motivation to become a nurse began as a young girl when she would watch nursing students walking by her home wearing their uniforms with their winter capes. A lifelong caregiver, there was never any question in her mind that she would become a nurse. She was not just a nurse in the clinical sense either. She was a selfless, caring, compassionate person who always included the needs of family and friends in her daily life and in her profession.
Upon graduation from nursing school Dorothy met her steadfast love, Dick Beedle, in Mill Valley, Calif., in October of 1950. For Dorothy and Dick it was love at first sight. They were married on February 24, 1951 in Los Angeles.
Dorothy’s yearning to become a wife and nurse having been accomplished, her next venture was to become a mother. Motherhood was a role that defined her life when ten months later, son Rick was born, followed by daughters Joyce and Marilyn. From the beginning, she wanted to have six children, and instead she had three, but later on counted her sons and daughter-in-law to be her “kids” as well. She took a break from nursing to raise her family while living in the San Francisco bay area. Dick and Dorothy lived in Redwood City, Mill Valley, Healdsburg and Novato, Calif., before moving to La Grande, Oregon in 1975.
Upon moving to La Grande, Dorothy resumed her nursing career at Grande Ronde Hospital where she was the first charge nurse in the newly-opened intensive care unit. She also worked for several local doctors who were thrilled to have such an intelligent, detail-oriented nurse on staff. When the opportunity arose for her to become the first administrator of home health services in La Grande, she eagerly took on the responsibility, and provided her patients with personal, individualized care.
While the Beedles lived in La Grande they also owned several properties through a partnership with Dick’s nephew, Don Healy. Many nights and weekends included performing maintenance and upkeep of the apartments, collecting rents, mowing and watering lawns, and on occasion, a bit of hand-holding for one tenant or another. This was a busy time for the couple, and after liquidating the properties, Dorothy said she sure didn’t miss those middle-of-the-night phone calls from tenants who had lost their keys.
She loved to tell tales, and had a keen memory. Such stories often included some type of mischievous behavior in which she was the instigator. With her inquisitive nature, and love of learning, she rarely passed up an opportunity to engage in light-hearted debate with her family and friends. Dorothy had the ability to make friends wherever she went, and it was important to her that everyone, whether family or new acquaintance, was included in whatever was taking place. This, of course, got her into some curious situations including sneaking into a closed museum in Washington, D.C., or mysteriously finding herself backstage at one of the many concerts or events that son, Rick, was producing.
Dorothy had a joyful perspective on life, and she consistently entertained the family with her antics while living every day to its fullest. Upon retirement in 1988, Dick and Dorothy packed up their motor home, hooked up the dune buggy, and set out on thousands of miles of adventures. During this time they happened upon their future winter home at Caliente Springs located in Desert Hot Springs, Calif. There they met new, extended family with whom they became quite close. A lover of all things gardening, Dorothy started the “Dig in the Dirt Gang” there and recruited volunteers from all over the park to help her beautify it by planting hundreds of flowers. She had plenty of willing volunteers, including her husband, and dear friend, Ruthie. Dorothy had a natural way of getting people to volunteer for activities, and it was nearly impossible to say no to her. Every spring found the Beedles loading up the motorhome to head north to visit family and explore their favorite haunts along the way.
Dorothy passed on her knack and love of gardening to each of her children, especially Marilyn, which is evidenced by Marilyn’s extensive flower and vegetable garden at her home in La Grande. She often collected seeds from her flowers and sent them to Dorothy for planting at Caliente Springs. Daughter Joyce marked birthdays, or mother’s day, with a delivery of flowers from her favorite nursery. Dorothy reveled in helping her children with planting, weeding, or dead-heading whenever she was visiting, and each patch of garden was better off after she left.
Dorothy rarely encountered a puzzle or riddle that she couldn’t solve, and delighted in learning new things. Her last book of “light” reading was from her daughter, Joyce, also an RN, that explained how the brain works. Dorothy and Joyce enjoyed learning from each other with Dorothy’s knowledge of old-school nursing, and Joyce’s more modern approach.
Whether chasing her children inside the house with a garden hose at full blast when they were young, later taking a ride on son Rick’s motorcycle (while wearing a dress), or showing up at one of their homes for surprise visits, Dorothy was a definite presence. She had a unique and sacred relationship with her children, making each one feel that he or she was the “favorite.”
No matter what any member of her family was striving to accomplish in their lives, Dorothy was their loudest cheerleader, strongest advocate and fiercest defender. From sporting events to giving a lecture, she was known for belting out encouragement, or staunchly beleaguering any opponent. She fancied competition, especially in sports, and often rooted for the underdog.
All of Dorothy’s grandchildren agree that whatever subject any one of them may have been studying in school, Grandma was interested in it, and would request a full rundown on the details. She never missed an opportunity to insert her own “expertise” on any topic, followed by her unique and distinctly raucous laughter.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her father Conrad LaBerge, mother, Marie Nelson, and her husband, Dr. Fred H. Nelson, brother Les LaBerge, six uncles and two aunts.
She is survived by her brother, John LaBerge, of southern Calif., her husband, Dick Beedle, of La Grande and Desert Hot Springs, Calif., her children, Rick Beedle and his wife, Stephanie Brookhart-Beedle of La Grande; Joyce Beedle and her husband, Wes Wolfe, of Portland; Marilyn Knight and her husband, David Knight, of La Grande; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; special niece Leslie LaBerge and family friend Lark London, both of whom she made an integral part of the immediate family by taking them in during their high school years;.and dozens more nieces and nephews.