Rebecca Sue “Becky” Smith-Beard, 80, of Union City went to be with her Lord and Savior on December 12, 2024 at Insight Hospital and Medical Center Coldwater after a lengthy illness.
A funeral was held on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation, 1276 Tate Trail, Union City, MI 49094 with Pastor Daryl Dexter of the Sherwood Free Methodist Church officiating. A private interment followed at Sherwood Cemetery in Sherwood.
Becky, as she preferred to be called, was born November 27, 1944, in Battle Creek, Michigan. She was preceded in death by her husband, Joe Beard; her father Reverend Leo W. Wilson, mother Iva I. Wilson, brothers Leo Wilson Jr. and Bruce Wilson, and grandson, Sawyer Lindsey.
She is survived by her brother Gene R. Wilson, children John (Bernadette) Smith, Lonnie Smith (former spouse Pam Smith), Kellie (Glenn) Lindsey, stepchildren Jason (Jayna) Beard and Katrina (Scott) Yoder, seven grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Becky and Joe were a fixture in the Union City community, often found having breakfast with friends and walking hand-in-hand on the downtown sidewalks. They were not just married but in love for 28 years and remained each other’s best friends as well as kids at heart – always ready for fun and laughter. They attended Sherwood Free Methodist church regularly and lovingly served the Congregation, from greeting members at the door to folding bulletins to making coffee, to teaching classes and many other support functions.
Becky the Evangelist: She was a devoted Christian and taught her family to know and love Jesus. By example, she taught everyone who knew her how to be kind, generous, loving and help whenever needed. She handled herself according to how God would shape her life. She always had a heart for the downtrodden and often reached out to those in need.
People may have wondered why she always had a smile, why she was always so kind, why she was always full of grace. It wasn’t because she’d never gone through hard things, quite the contrary, but she knew that emulating God’s love for her and projecting that to others was what He most wanted for her life. She attended church regularly and always understood she was not perfect. Being a Christian didn’t mean she had to be perfect, but she had to keep trying to be the best child of God that she could be. Her family is certain that Jesus welcomed her with open arms telling her she had done well.
Becky the Hairdresser: In high school she was sought after to do her friends’ hair for events, and regularly did her mother’s hair. She knew this was what she wanted as a career and as such, entered a contest, a radio station had announced to gain a scholarship for Ferrari’s Beauty Academy in Battle Creek. There was one first prize, which was a full ride scholarship, and there were second and third prizes as partial scholarships. She wrote an essay as to why she wanted to become a hairdresser, at the time called a “beautician”, and her essay won the first prize! That was 55 years ago, and she worked at Snip & Curl Beauty Shop in Union City for most of her career.
She semi-retired and in 1999, created her own salon in a small, cute shop next to her house, separated from her back door by a sidewalk. This amazing place of beauty was not only a place for people to get a haircut, but to hear about the love of Jesus and how it might transform your life if you would let Him. The salon was decorated with her Elvis memorabilia because she was a huge Elvis fan having attended a 1975 concert in Detroit. At this concert, she tried to get one of Elvis’ scarves that he commonly wiped his brow with, and threw into the audience, but someone clobbered her in the lip, and she never got that scarf but still came back to tell the story with a smile on her face.
Becky the Ventriloquist: She was a wildly successful ventriloquist performing throughout Michigan at different venues, primarily mother and daughter banquets, Sunday School events, special church programs, and sometimes birthday parties. She was self-taught, having picked up a Howdy Doody doll from her kids’ toybox and sending away for a mail order training course to learn how to become a ventriloquist. She campaigned for Elias Brothers Big Boy having made her own big boy puppet and the company wanted her to campaign for a “Yes” or “No” – “do we keep the Big Boy statue at all of the restaurants?”. She was also on News Channel 3 with Bob Evans on the Road, for an interview.
There were a number of other famous appearances because she was so talented. She made all her own puppets out of foam rubber, the first one being Papa Geppetto, crafted from an old couch foam using an electric turkey carving knife. To follow, Pinocchio was born as well as Baby Gretchen and a full-size Swedish man by the name of Big Olaf, and Dr. Moody and Groucho Marx to name a few more.
Becky as an Outdoor Enthusiast: She loved flowers and had incredible green thumbs – not just one green thumb. There was no flower nor fruit or vegetable that she couldn’t grow. Her favorite flower was Lily of the Valley, and she had some planted always in her garden at home. She was the greatest of Fisherwomen, having taught her kids how to fish. She loved catching them as much as eating them and had unique methods to improvise when bait ran out. She once caught the biggest fish her family had ever seen her catch. The worm was crafted out of a chewed and shaped piece of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum, which she always had in her possession.
Becky the Artist: She was an incredibly talented artist with just about any medium, from painting ceramics, to making jewelry, to making lamp shades. She once attended a course in New England on how to make Victorian custom lamp shades. She mastered the craft and produced several custom orders, which did not surprise her family, because anything she touched with her artistic and creative mind, became a work of beauty.
Becky was a loving mother, wife, sister, parent, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother, daughter and friend who loved and cherished “together time”. She loved to laugh, having a great sense of humor and it was contagious. People loved to be around her. The more of her friends and family she could gather together, the better. She will be remembered as one of God’s BEST!
Memorial contributions may be directed to the Sherwood Free Methodist Church, mail to: SFMC, 1161 Rustic Hills Drive, Union City, MI 49094.
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