Family only graveside services for C.L. Beck will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, December 30, 2023 in the Whitehouse Cemetery in Lufkin, Texas Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m – 12:30 p.m. prior to the service in the Gipson Funeral Home Chapel.
C L Beck was the sixth of 13 children born to Roy William and Maude Reed Beck on November 3, 1922. He was named (initials only) after his grandfather, Cicero and his great grandfather, Lewis.
C L was born in Whitney and was the last of his siblings to be born near his parent’s birthplace in Hill County, Texas. Only a few months after his birth, the family moved to what is now the bottom of Eagle Mountain Lake near Fort Worth, Texas. His father owned a dairy and the children quickly learned to get up early, milk the cows, cleanup, grab a breakfast and walk to school.
The family moved several times and often shared living property with his aunt and her family of 9 children. Lifetime family bonds were created and he and one of those cousins left home together to attend a trade school at Ranger, Texas in Eastland county west of Weatherford. They studied metal works and both were able to get jobs at The Lufkin Foundry in September 1941 at Lufkin, Texas. That is where he met his future wife, Naomi Chitwood, who worked at a drug store only a few blocks from where he worked and lived. They married on March 26, 1943, built a home, started a amily and became active members in the First Church of the Nazarene. Shortly before their first anniversary, C L was drafted into the Navy and shipped off to New Guinea during World War II. He served as a motor machinist’s mate second class, maintaining ground equipment and returned home after an honorable discharge in time for his third anniversary.
He grew up in a time that people learned to do most anything that was needed to make life work.
Whether it was working on an automobile, adding onto a house, planting a garden or just putting up a tall antenna for better reception even when TVs were new and not common. I’m sure working on a farm and dairy with his father and older brothers and sisters had a lot to do with those skills but he was just good with math and perception. He could figure out anything which came in handy when we brought home math homework. His skill and ability to work with others allowed him to move up the ranks at The Lufkin Foundry until he reached the place where he was happy and stayed as a supervisor in the gear assembly department until he retired. He was blessed with good health and was still driving his own car at 96. Several in the family lived well past 90 and some past 100 so somewhere there were genes that made for strong healthy bodies and minds.
C L is preceded in death by his parents, wife (Naomi) and all but one of his siblings and survived
by one brother, Charles D’Wain (wife Nancy), one son, Michael Dewain, two daughters, Brenda Ann Prejean (husband Jimmy) and Sheila Jo Seaman (husband Gary), 7 grandchildren, 18 great
grandchildren, 3 great great grandchildren along with a host of nieces, nephews and friends. He
passed away peacefully in his sleep at age 101 about midnight, December 24, 2023 in Lufkin, Texas and will be buried beside his wife at Whitehouse Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, you can make a donation to the George Henderson Foundation at Pinecrest Retirement Community or Hospice In The Pines. Under the direction of Gipson Funeral Home.
