7 Children Share Memories Of Rick And Bethe Beaver

No one in the room wanted to be there.

It was a Celebration of Life for Noblesville’s Rick and Bethe Beaver.

Friends and family and acquaintances last Thursday morning, April 20, filled the sanctuary at Grace Church in Noblesville to celebrate the Beaver couple’s lives.

Rick and Bethe Beaver tragically died on Wednesday, April 5, when the Piper PA-32R-300 aircraft they were riding in crashed into the Gulf of Mexico near Venice, Fla., just after 9:30 p.m. Officials said the airplane went down in the Gulf shortly after takeoff from Venice Municipal Airport. Jeff and Patty Lumpkin, 64 and 68, of Fishers, also died in the plane crash.

Ricky Joe Beaver was born March 1, 1963, and recently celebrated his 60th birthday. Elizabeth Anne “Bethe” (Horine) Beaver was born May 1, 1965, and was 57. She would have celebrated turning 58 in another five days. Both were graduates of Noblesville High School, Rick in 1982 and Bethe in 1983. They were both well known in the community. Rick was president of Beaver Construction Management in Noblesville, and Bethe founded and operated Indiana Elite Cheer & Tumbling in Noblesville.

At Thursday’s Celebration of Life, those in attendance honored the memory of the Beaver couple, who “lived life well.” Their many involvements in the community were evident in their beautifully written and extremely extensive obituaries.

The Beavers, both Christians, were “happy just being together,” family members said at Thursday’s Celebration of Life, which featured music and stories and thoughts from the couple’s children.

Jamie Troyer, a singer friend of Bethe Beaver and a former All-Star Cheer & Tumbling instructor at Indiana Elite, sang Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Road,” a song that was sung 17 years ago at Bethe and Rick’s wedding.

Pastor Dave Mullins told the story of how Rick booked the honeymoon trip before having the wedding planned. He went on to share about the couple’s devotion to the community. “When you look at the life of Rick and Bethe, you see how important community was, in so many ways.” Mullins said community was evident from the great number of people who attended the four hours of visitation last Wednesday night as well as the hundreds of people who filled the sanctuary at Thursday morning’s joint Celebration of Life.

“Wow, what a turnout of people. I didn’t realize my dad had that many friends,” joked Andy Sherley of Sheridan, Rick Beaver’s first child. “He was quite something. I could sit up here and tell stories all day long and all night. Everybody here could tell stories,” said Sherley, although he wasn’t close to his dad until the past five to 10 years, the past year being the best. “He really got to know me, who I was, everything about me,” Sherley said. He referred to Bethe as “a great lady.” He said, “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an angel, but she ranked up there as close to one as could be. She had a lot of friends and touched a lot of lives.”

Sherley was among Rick and Bethe’s seven children and stepchildren who came together to share remembrances of their parents, who were married on April 28, 2006. Rick and Bethe Beaver would have celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary this Friday.

“We were each touched by their presence, and we’re all better because of that,” said Robbie Horine of Fishers, Bethe’s first child.

He admitted he spent a lot of time at his mom’s gym, but he was never a cheerleader, a question he had been asked many times. He called his mom “his biggest fan,” who attended all of his hockey games and who danced with him at his wedding to Backstreet Boys’ “The Perfect Fan.”

Horine described Rick, or “Rico Suave,” as he called his stepdad, an optimist who “always believed that things would work out the way they should.” And he admitted that Rick “could see through some of the B.S. that we’ve all thrown his way over the years,” including Horine’s story about how his car spun out and sideswiped a tree. Rick hired Horine more than a year ago in construction and they got to hang out together more.

Rick “loved a good Old Fashioned (cocktail) and was always on a never-ending quest to find the best in Hamilton County,” he said.

Mitchell Beaver of Cicero told a story about how his dad, who “could ride a wheelie from here to Kokomo,” thought his son was old enough to get his own dirt bike, at age 4. Rick taught him how to be confident and “never give up.” And what his dad said still echoes in his head: “Mitchell, you can never give up on anything. You are more than capable of doing anything in this world. And if you give up before you finish, you’ll never know what you’re missing out on.”

He then talked about his stepmother, Bethe, who was “like a second mother.” He said, “Boy, howdy, did she have perseverance. She had to, to be married to a guy like my dad. Only a former high school teacher could wrangle the wild horse of a man that my dad was. Through God’s grace and perseverance, she tamed him….”

He said his dad and stepmom “did everything together. They didn’t make any decisions on their own.”

Annie Jackson of Greenwood said her mom and stepdad, “bonus dad,” were “two of the most influential people of my life.” She said, “My mother is my first memory, my first hug, my first phone call in the morning, my first teacher and my first friend. And Rick is the man who loved me like his own. They spent a wonderful last couple of years together, and it was a privilege to watch.”

She described her mom as “the keeper of hope.”

Jackson also said, “When my mom met Rick, it was evident that she had fallen for him” and went on to say “My stepdad really loved my mom.””

Alivia Beaver of Noblesville is Rick’s youngest daughter. “There are a million things I could say about the lives my parents lived,” she said. “And at the same time, there are no words. God works in mysterious ways. The moment I learned that my parents had died, everything fell away. My fragile understanding was instantly broken as everything was changed in an instant …” But she said her parents “chose to be followers of Jesus Christ.” For most of her life, she and her dad were separated but he would drive to see her, and his love carried her through her childhood chaos. Her dad always had words of wisdom. “I’m not sure how I will move through this life without him….”

Katherine Sarno of Indianapolis, Bethe’s youngest daughter, read a “love letter” to the two of them. “You touched and brought so much peace unto others … It was time to have peace and eternity. What I would do to hear you pick up the phone late in the night just to hear your soft voice ….”

Christian Beaver of West Lafayette said his dad always loved to play Monopoly, which would be “long and torturous” when his dad played the game with the family. “Whether in card games, board games, on the racetrack or in business, my dad was always one step ahead. He was always thinking of the future, and somehow, he always had the means, the leverage and the power to get there. I believe this was the will of God. It could be frustrating at times, feeling like he was always calling all the shots and there was little that could be done to change that … he plowed a difficult road over the 60 years of his life, the difficulties often being of his own making. But somehow in spite of choices and circumstances, some good, some bad, he was a success, in every meaning of the word. Questionable financial decisions, yet he prospered. Careers taking hard turns, but he was a captain of industry. Hard-to-explain family choices, but he was loved … yet he was a righteous man of God.”

Christian Beaver went on to perform a beautiful musical tribute, playing the grand piano and singing Casting Crowns’ “Voice of Truth,” a song that he was hoping to sing for his parents at their anniversary.

Jamie Troyer ended the Celebration of Life by singing “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone).”

Rest in peace Rick and Bethe Beaver.

Services were handled by Randall & Roberts Funeral Home. Watch the Beavers’ Celebration of Life at https://youtube.com/live/67fcyuRH084

-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. Contact The Times editor Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com