President Beckham

Profile Updated: November 4, 2016
Residing In: Provo, UT USA
Spouse/Partner: Ida Lee Beckham (deceased) Janette Hales Beckham
Current and/or Previous Occupation(s): Retired faculty Brigham Young University
Children & Grandchildren: November, 2016
Raymond, Jr., lives in St. George with his wife, Elaine; Eric "Rick" and his wife More…Vicki are both deceased; they have four children and eleven grandchildren; Randy and his wife Vicki have four children and six grandchildren and live in Sandy; Renae and her husband David Willes have six children and seven grandchildren and live in Orem; Raleen and her husband Rick Wahlin have five children and one grandchild and live in Provo. Ida Lee and I have eighteen grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. Janette (whose five children served missions in five different foreign countries) and her deceased husband Robert Hales have five children, thirteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Military Service: U.S. Coast Guard  
Tell us some things about what you've been doing since your mission.

I returned to BYU in 1976 as a professor of communications until I retired in 1992. I spent my last three years there as Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications raising money for the new Art Museum. I then spent two years with NuSkin setting up their communications department. Sister Beckham and I put in our papers for a mission, but she died unexpectedly in 1994. Even though I couldn't be a missionary in the field, the Church called me to Church headquarters where I served nine years in the Public Affairs Department. While there, I courted and married Janette Hales who was then serving as General President of Young Women. We were married in 1995. Randy says, "My Dad only dated five women in his entire life, and married two of them." I feel very fortunate to have two such wonderful companions. I finished in 2016 an autobiography of 752 pages, and gave DVDs of it to those who attended the 2016 missionary reunion at Aspen Grove.

In Church service since Canada, I have served as a Regional Representative of the Twelve and as a member of the Church Lamanite Committee, the Church Melchizedek Priesthood Committee, and the Church Adult Curriculum Committee. I was chairman of the Church Home Teaching Committee and the Church Single Adults Committee. I have also served in the Presidency of the Provo Temple and as the Stake Mission President. Janette and I served for four years on the Church Olympic Committee for the 2002 Winter Games. I am presently (2016) the chairman of our Ward Scouting Committee and as the instructor for our High Priests Group.

In community service, I have served three terms as President of the Utah National Parks Council of the Boy Scouts of America; Nine years as Chairman of the Red Cross in Utah County; Founding President of the Provo Downtown Alliance; chairman of the Provo Downtown Beautification Committee; candidate for U.S. Congress; Deputy Director of Polling & Planning in Washington, D.C. for the 1984 Reagan election campaign; member of the Utah Centennial Commission; member of the Governor's Mansion Restoration Committee; Committee for Planning and Construction of the new (2013) Provo Recreation Center; United Way; and many other local causes and projects. I recently raised funds for and placed 60 benches with historical plaques in Provo City Parks. I am now (2016) trying to raise endowment funds for the Recreation Center.

Healthwise, I feel very fortunate to still be in good physical and mental health in 2016. I had a prostate cancer scare eight years ago, but radiation seemed to clear it up; I have type II diabetes, but it is under control; and I have a defibrillator that keeps my heart from malfunctioning. I work out twice a week with an unyielding trainer. My weight is at my high school level, but I wish it were at my college level. My right leg is very weak, so I use a cane. Otherwise, my doctor says that at 89 I am in better shape than most of his aging patients.

A Fun Mission Story:

This is not a fun story, but those who knew Elder and Sister Howard Lund might like to know that he had a rough six months in 2014. He was visiting his son in Provo when he fell down some stairs and broke his ankle and foot. He spent a week in the hospital and was then transferred to a rehabilitation center. As he was being discharged three weeks later, they found some serious infection in his blood. He spent another two weeks in the hospital and then three more weeks in the rehabilitation center. He passed away in 2016 and is buried with his wife, Betty, in Morgan, Utah.

Elder Lund (later "President Lund" of the Canada Manitoba Mission) and our two wives spent three weeks together in 1988 touring through Europe.

To my knowledge, Elder Lund was the last surviving person among our wonderful couples who served with us in Canada.

President's Latest Interactions

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President Beckham has a birthday today. New comment added.
Feb 18, 2017 at 8:59 AM

Posted on: Feb 18, 2017 at 2:33 AM

Nov 04, 2016 at 4:36 PM
Feb 18, 2016 at 2:34 AM
President Beckham has a birthday today. New comment added.
Feb 18, 2015 at 12:26 PM

Posted on: Feb 18, 2015 at 2:33 AM

President Beckham changed his "Now" picture. New comment added.
Mar 09, 2017 at 12:25 AM

Posted on: May 06, 2014 at 9:10 AM





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