Earl Henry Edward Beseke was born in Jackson, Minnesota on June 25, 1929 to Ernest and Clara (Groth) Beseke. He was baptized as an infant on July 21, 1929 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, in Alpha, Minnesota. He was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church on May 30, 1943.
He married Ruth Bennette Lineberger of Dallas, North Carolina at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bellevue, Nebraska on September 3, 1955.
Earl joined the U.S. Air Force in 1947 and retired from the Air Force after 29 years of service in August of 1976 with the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. For the first 15 years he worked as an aircraft mechanic, crew chief and flight engineer of various propeller driven aircraft. His last 14 years were spent in heavy ground radar as a technician and superintendent at various radar sites stateside and as a USAF inspector on the Distant Early Warning radar line north of the Arctic Circle in Canada.
He maintained his membership at Trinity Lutheran Church in Alpha, Minnesota although he and his family attended many Lutheran churches wherever he was stationed until 1967. At that time, Earl and Ruth transferred their membership to Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs where he served as an usher for many years.
Earl passed away peacefully at home due to Parkinson’s, surrounded by his family. He is preceded in death by his wife, Ruth, whom he served lovingly and faithfully for over 10 years as she declined due to Alzheimer’s. To his children, those were his greatest years. He was Ruth’s constant companion, best friend and soul mate for 56 years.
Earl is survived by his three daughters – Susan Connors, Linda Farrington and her husband Tim; and Alicia Capp and her husband Fred; four grandsons – Nate and his wife Heather; Phil and his wife Meg; Liam, and Brad and his wife Angie; five granddaughters – Lorilei and her husband Brian; Kathryn and her husband Matt; Maria and her husband Morris; Karen and her husband Sam; and Heidi and her husband Corey; 10 great-grandsons – Riley, Parker, Aiden, Marc, Seth, Tristan, Calvin, Ben, Levi and Ian; and eight great-granddaughters – Madison, Madeline, Elianna, Zoe, Adelaide, Joycelyn, Nadalie and Susanna.
Dad was raised on a farm in southern Minnesota where he fell in love with airplanes and dreamed of working on them and flying them someday. That dream lead to an amazing career in the Air Force and travel to countries all over the world. Dad loved the outdoors and fished and hunted wherever he lived in both summer and winter. When he retired, Dad spent many years fishing and hunting in Colorado. Mom and Dad also square-danced together for decades and loved to travel. They joined a travel club and went to some amazing places including back to Germany, Hawaii and Alaska. His most amazing journey, however, is the one that he took on Sunday, December 6, when he went to meet his Savior face to face. He will be missed but we find comfort and joy knowing he is healed and with those who also love our Savior, including Mom and many of their friends and family.
His memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, December 14, 2020 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 4125 Constitution Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80909 (family and friends welcome, masks required) with full military honors and burial (for family and close friends only) at Memorial Gardens Cemetery. The family requests that any donations be sent to Holy Cross Lutheran Church (www.holycrosscs.org), to the Disabled American Veterans (https://secure.dav.org/) or to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (https://www.vfw.org/).
PALLBEARERS
Tim FarringtonPallbearer
Fred CappPallbearer
Nate FarringtonPallbearer
Phil FarringtonPallbearer
Mike FitzgibbonsPallbearer
Ray SchulerPallbearer
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