Norman Rex Beabout, 93, of Belleville, IL, passed gently into eternal rest on September 1, 2024. Norm was born on August 2, 1931, in Crawford County IL, near Robinson. He was the youngest of the five children of the late Harry and Bernice, nee Newlin, Beabout of Oblong, IL.
Prior to Norm’s childhood family moving to their house in Oblong (where they first got running water and electricity), Norm lived in the country in a series of “pumper shacks” surrounded by oil fields west of the Wabash River, with horses that powered Peabody drills, and cows that provided milk used to make “Heath English Toffee,” the pride of Robinson. From his rural upbringing he learned to identify bird songs, edible plants, and animal tracks. In the spring he knew how to find wild mushrooms and berries; in the fall, walnuts and persimmons; in winter, they snared rabbits. Norm’s mother had a pacifist streak and would not allow fighting at home, so the brothers used to stuff socks in their mouths to slip out into the fields to fight! He graduated from Oblong High School in 1949, and was offered a scholarship to play college football, but his mother was opposed to the violence of the sport, so he worked his way through college washing dishes, graduating from the University of Illinois. Norm served our country during the Korean War.
Over the Memorial Day weekend in 1957, Norm married Eleanor “Ele” Dask. They danced their way through more than 67 years of married life together, raising seven children, and hosting international exchange students. Norm worked as an industrial engineer for various companies in Peoria, IL, Sidney, OH, and Joliet, IL, including a long career at the E J & E Railroad, retiring as Chief Industrial Engineer in the early 1990s. Plus, he had an entrepreneurial streak: for several years, Norm and Ele ran a successful candy company producing and selling “G-Shaft” hard candy.
Norm was raised with a deep Christian faith, and in the 1960s, he became a Roman Catholic. In the 1970s, he was among the first group of married men in the United States ordained as a permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church (while making a living as an industrial engineer). After “retiring” from his job in Joliet and moving to Evergreen, CO, he worked as a hospital chaplain for more than 25 years, and he celebrated liturgies at St. Elizabeth Mission Church of Our Lady of the Pines near Pine Grove in Buffalo Creek, CO. Norm and Ele moved in 2012 to Fredericksburg, TX, where they lived across the street from St. Mary’s Catholic Church. In Texas, Norm continued to be active as a Deacon and Chaplain until the age of 90. Since August 2021, Norm and Ele made their home at the Benedictine Living Community at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL.
Norm was good at building with wood, a skill he learned from his father, and from working with his brother-in-law building “Bircher Barns” in Wyoming during a summer in college. He built many wooden boats for his grandchildren. An athlete and outdoorsmen, he had a good sense of humor. He liked to hum, and he seemed to know an apt line from an old hymn or a silly folk song to suit most every occasion. His temperament was patient and tender, but firm. His passions revolved around his family and children, the Church, the communities of which he was part, and the nature that surrounded him. He was a gentle, good listener who appreciated hard work, serving others, and making a comfortable home with Ele to live out his vocation as a participation in God’s tender love and grace.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his siblings, Wendell, Bernadine (Bea Bircher), Lawrence (Larry), and Harry (Hal); and his son, Tom Goforth.
Norm is survived by his wife, Eleanor “Ele”; six children, Doug (Alicia) Beabout, Greg (Cindy) Beabout, Michelle (Steve) Viro, Marcia (Sean) McMahon, Sabrina Lowder, and Tammie Mills; 17 grandchildren, Sarah, Lauren, Kevin, Rachelle, Mark, John, Thérèse, Kristina, Juliana, Sean, Mathew, Colin, Kevin, Karina, Kari, Katie, and Ava; 17 great-grandchildren, Lucas, Ryan, Oliver, Matthew, Joseph, Michael, Karl, Louis, Isaac, Nathaniel, Wesley, Ian, Meredith, Elijah, Azélie, Declan, Maeve, plus at least one more little one on the way; and beloved nephews and nieces.
Visitation: Friends may visit from 12:45 to 2 p.m. Saturday, September 7, 2024, at the Benedictine Living Community at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, 726 Community Drive, Belleville, IL 62223. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 2 p.m.
Burial will be Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Columbia, IL, followed by a meal celebrating Norm’s life at the Shrine.
The family is grateful for the loving care and support of the wonderful staff at the Shrine. Please consider, in lieu of flowers, a donation to the Shrine and/or the Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine in Belleville, IL.
