Robert M. “Bear” Beeck, 71, of Lost Nation, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Thursday, December 26, 2024, at home.

Robert Milton Beeck was born on February 1, 1953 in Maquoketa, Iowa, to Albert and Irene (Straub) Beeck.  He spent his younger years in Spragueville and graduated from Preston High School.  While in high school he dislocated both shoulders and was unable to serve in the military.

Bear first worked at Barrows Camp-O-Rama in Camanche, Iowa where he met his future wife, Shelley Ann Durr.  They worked together at making van interiors.  They married on August 25, 1978 in Argo Fay, Iowa.

Upon marrying, Bear and Shelley moved to Lost Nation where he worked as a farmhand with Swenson’s Hilltop Hampshire Farms, and then with Allen Richman.  Lastly, he drove a semi-truck until his back couldn’t handle it anymore and he retired due to disability.

Bear was a member of the Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lost Nation.  In early years he was a member of the Salem Lutheran Church in Spragueville, and for a short time he attended First Baptist Church in Maquoketa. 

Bear liked farming and raising hogs and had a milk cow named “Bossy”.  He was an expert carpenter, and enjoyed woodworking, crafting tables and furniture, making wood characters, and cutting out all the wood projects for a paint class that his wife Shelley had taught in Lost Nation.

Those left to honor his memory include his loving wife, Shelley Beeck of Lost Nation, IA; children, Jennifer (Clark) Kennedy of Davenport, IA, and Joshua Beeck of Des Moines, IA; 5 grandchildren, Kyle and Chelsea Lane of DeWitt, IA, Hayley Buxton of CA, and Levi and Kalyn Hass of Maquoketa, IA; 7 great-grandchildren; and siblings, Susan (Mark) Hildebrand of Sheboygan, WI, and Stephen (Jana) Beeck of Milwaukee, WI.  He was preceded in death by his parents, and a sister Shirley Shover.

A celebration of Bear’s life will be held at 10:30 A.M., Saturday, January 11, 2025, at Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lost Nation, IA.  Lunch will follow.  Cremation rites have been accorded.  The Carson Celebration of Life Center in Maquoketa is caring for the family.

In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, a Robert M. “Bear” Beeck memorial fund has been established.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.CarsonAndSon.com.