Barbara Beecken

The generous and kind soul of 71 year old Barbara (Hans) Beecken, of Marshalltown, departed this earthly life early on Monday morning, September 11th, in the peace of her home and with family at her side. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday, September 18th, at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home with Pastor Gregg Davison officiating. Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. on Sunday at the funeral home. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234. Born on November 15th, 1945, in Marshalltown, she was the daughter of Claude and Virginia (Tesar) Slifer. She graduated from the Marshalltown High Schools Class of 1963. One day, she met a handsome young man who immigrated here from Germany along with his best friend, Willy Backhaus (who married Barbs sister Claudia). Willy and Claudia took Barb down to the KIOWA factory to meet this young man, Hans Beecken, and to see if they wanted to date. Well, the rest is history as he and Barb were united in marriage on November 23rd, 1963. They made Marshalltown their home all of their married lives where she was employed at the Sugar Bowl Restaurant, an egg hatchery, and as her husbands secretary at Scott Tent and Awning for many years. Later, she worked in housekeeping at MMSC, Grandview Heights and lastly at the Iowa Veterans Home as RTW until a back injury occurred. Nursing care was a perfect fit for her generous, nurturing and kind spirit. A perfect day would probably be Sunday when her family was present. She spent the days prior making gift bags for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to take home with them. The day would continue on with a trip to the casino and going to garage sales. If there was a title of Professional Garage Sale Entrepreneur, the first license would have been issued to Barb Beecken. Barb was famous in the community for the annual Beecken garage sale in September- this year it will be held above with her dad and sisters Claudia and Debbie at her side. Left to cherish her memory are Hans, her loving husband of nearly 54 years, her daughter Michelle (Jeff) Daggett of Marshalltown and son Rodney Beecken of Marshalltown; grandsons- Jared (Sara) Daggett of Marshalltown and Jacob (Kristina) Daggett of St. Anthony; great-great children- Jordyn, Madisyn, Jacksyn and Jace; her mother Virginia of Marshalltown; siblings- David (Sue) Slifer, Tina Roberts, Lynette (Curtis) Miller and Melinda (Craig) Wolken all of Marshalltown as well as many nieces, nephews and friends. In death, she rejoined her father Claude and sisters Debbie Briggs and Claudia (Willy) Backhaus.