In Memory of "Mayor" Earl Beck

I attended the funeral of Mayor of Sunnydell Earl Beck. The name wasn't official but that is how I have always thought of him. When we first moved out here to Sunnydell, actually as we were building our home, before we moved out our friend asked us if we had met Mayor Earl Beck. We laughed thinking little Sunnydell had a mayor. It didn't but for all intents and purposes he fit the bill well. Brother Beck died at age 87 and has lived in Sunnydell from the time he was 3 years old. He was always the first person to welcome you to whatever was going on. He would shake your hand and say "I feel money in that hand", or some variation of that. He always had the biggest smile and a firm handshake and if you stopped to talk always a story to tell. Him and his wife, Rhea, bought our farm in 1965 and cleaned it up and farmed it till he retired. When talking about our house it is always referred to as the old Beck place. That is how everyone knows it. He was very proud of it when we started remodeling and came to visit often, then brought his daughter that lives in California by to show her what her "old" home looked like. What a great legacy he has left the Sunnydell area. He will be missed.