Charles Beasley of Raymondville, Texas died peacefully in his sleep on May 29th, 2010 in Houston. Born in Hubbard, Texas in 1920 to Ernest and Bertha Beasley, Charles was the youngest of seven brothers and sisters. After graduating from Abilene High School he headed to college with the help of a $100 award for ginning the first bale of cotton in Taylor County. He attended Tarleton State University and then transferred to Texas A&M University in College Station where he was active in the Aggie Corps and lived and worked at the A&M farm to pay his way through college. Upon graduation in 1943 with a degree in animal husbandry he took his first job as County Agent of Willacy County in the lower Rio Grande Valley. It was there that Charles met, fell in love with, and married Maurine Cheney, his wife of 62 years who preceded him in death in 2007.

As County Agent Charles started the first 4-H Club in Raymondville and followed with the founding of additional clubs in Lyford, La Sara, San Perlita and Sebas- tian. He organized the first annual Willacy County 4-H and FFA Livestock Show in 1945, an event that has been held annually for the past 65 years. After four years acting as County Agent, Charles started his own farming operation centered in Willacy County. Additionally he ran a number of cows on the family “pasture”, a 500-acre holding west of town that served as the centerpiece of the Beasley outdoor social life. He was the founder of Beasley Realty, a commercial and residential real estate company, developer and operator of the Retama Manor Nursing Home, and participated in the initial formation of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers Association. He served on the Raymondville School Board and was a founding member of the Willacy County Rotary Club.

Charles will be remembered by all who knew him for his warm and friendly sprit, his wonderful smile and ready laugh, and his unique ability to see the best in people and every situation he encountered. Charles‚ family, friends and work were his passions as well as his deep love of nature and his joy in spending most of every day out of doors in the South Texas farm and ranch country.

Charles leaves this earth to join his wife Maurine, his granddaughter, Ashley Beasley, his parents, six brothers and sisters, and brother-in law, Raymond Cheney and Bryon Campbell. He is survived by his son Blake Beasley of Canyon, and daughter and son-in-law Kyle and John Kirksey of Houston, son and daughter in-law Dane and Linda Beasley of Stephenville, grandchildren Shawn and Bill Jackson, Ashley and John Kirksey, Jr., Kathryn Beasley, Lisa Carver, Erin Forgie, Jeff Beasley, Ben Beasley, Kyle Beasley and great grandchildren, Garrett and Jackson Carver, Catherine and Will Jackson, and John Kirksey III.

The family would like to offer a special note of thanks to Charles‚ wonderful caregivers over the last years: Janie Ruiz, Ruby Navarette, and Rose Garcia in Raymondville, and Adrianne Arismendez in Houston.

The family will receive friends from 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd at Duddlesten Funeral Home in Raymondville.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a m. on Thursday, June 3rd at First Baptist Church, 301 N. Fifth Street.

In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions may be directed to the Ashley Elizabeth Beasley Memorial Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box T0260, Stephenville, Texas 76402

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