Ruth Rowena Beals

Services for Ruth R. Beals, 87, of Chariton, Iowa, will be held on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. at the First Baptist Church in Chariton. Burial will be at the Chariton Cemetery following the service. Family will receive friends on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. at the Pierschbacher Funeral Home in Chariton. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church.

The service will be livestreamed through the following link: https://my.gather.app/remember/ruth-beals-2022

Ruth Rowena (Keeton) Beals was born on January 17, 1935, in Triplett, Missouri to Fred and Stella (Wilder) Keeton. She grew up in Humboldt County, Wright County, and Howard County, and attended school at Goldfield. Growing up, Ruth helped her dad farming and was always a hardworking farm girl. She and her father would like to joke and sing, “whatever he could do, she could do it better”.

Ruth met Everett Beals at a Rural Youth Project dance, and the couple married January 16, 1954, in the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. The couple was blessed with four children: Everett Burton Jr., Bob, Bill, and Mary Elizabeth. Although they did not have lots of money, she always made sure her children were taken care of and did not go without while growing up.

Only attending school through the eighth grade, Ruth often felt like she did not know much, but Ruth was very knowledgeable and taught herself everything she needed. She always said you can learn anything as long as you want to learn. Ruth taught herself how to knit, crochet, and quilt, making all the clothes for the kids when they were growing up, and later making something special for everyone in her family.

She was fond of musical instruments, learning how to play the fiddle, the mandolin, along with many other instruments. Musical instruments made for some special family times, with bluegrass music being one of the favorites.

Ruth was a great cook. The family always ate like kings. There was no such thing as a small meal in the home, they were closer to an old-fashioned threshers’ meal.

Ruth and Everett enjoyed camping at many bluegrass music festivals throughout the years. They went on a mission trip together to Haiti in 1984. They helped put up the walls on a church and another group put the roof on a year later.

Ruth was very fond of her family. She never missed a wrestling match that the boys participated in. She was their loudest fan, always wanting to make sure they heard her cheering for them. The same was true for baseball and softball games.

Ruth will be dearly missed by her children: Everett Burton Beals Jr., Bob (Cheryl) Beals, Bill (Gilda) Beals, and Mary Elizabeth (Terry) Lenox; 13 grandchildren: Joshua, Justin, Jacob, McKenzie, Madison, Michael, Aimee, Robert Jr., Rowena, Sarah, Kim, Michelle, and Megan; 25 great grandchildren; 5 great-great grandchildren; siblings: Carolyn Bliven, Jim (Mary) Keeton, John Keeton, Judy Portis, Lois (Albert) Winkels, and Ruby June “Little Boss” Losee; sister-in-law, Laura Ripperger; and many nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Stella; husband, Everett Beals; siblings: David (Shirley) Keeton, Ed Keeton, Marshall Keeton, and Nancy (Jim) Greely; and brothers-in-law: Larry Bliven, Kenny Portis, and Jule Losee.