GLEN A. BEERY, 89, of Greenville, Ohio, died at 7:16 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003, at the Church of the Brethren Retirement Community, where he resided since 1998. He was former Wabash County Commissioner and a North Manchester agri-businessman. Mr. Beery owned Beery Orchard Farm from 1943 to 1989, an 80-acre operation south of North Manchester, where he raised feeder pigs and operated a commercial apple orchard. He was selected Chester Township Trustee and served from 1959 to 1963. He was elected to two four-year terms as Wabash County commissioner from the North Manchester district, serving from 1973 to 1980. He was a sustaining member of the National Republican Party and served on the National Advisory Committee for Domestic Affairs for the Bush Administration from 1988 to 1992. He was a delegate-at-large to the National Republican party Platform Planning committee, 1992 to 1994 and 1996 to 1998, and a member of the Republican Presidential Legion of Merit. He was founder's sponsor of GOP-TV in 1994, a member of the Heritage Foundation since 1988, a charter member of Americans for Responsible TV Programming, and a member of the National Right-To-Life. He also served on the Manchester Community Schools Board and the Wabash County Welfare Board, both from 1969 to 1983.
Mr. Beery was active in many community organizations. He was a charter member of the Wabash County Council for Retarded Citizens, served 22 years on the board of directors, and was chairman from 1956 to 1970. He served four years on the Indiana Association for Retarded Citizens board of directors, two years as vice president in 1967 and 1971 and was also director of the Society for Crippled Children and Adults from 1960 to 1968, North Manchester United Fund 1960-1966, and the Five County Mental Health Clinic (Bowen Center), 1970 to 1976. He was a member of the Indiana Fruit Growers Association, Indiana Horticulture Society, and the Wabash County Farm Bureau from 1943 to 1989. He was President of the North Manchester Kiwanis Club in 1962, club secretary from 1971 to 1978, and treasurer from 1989 to 1998.
He was awarded a life membership in Kiwanis International in 1978, was named lieutenant governor of Division 3A in 1964, and was elected to four terms as treasurer of the Indiana District of Kiwanis from 1966 to 1970. In May 2002, he received his 45-year membership pin and was given a special citation by Ohio Representative Keith Faber for his outstanding service to the community organization. He was a past member of the North Manchester Historical Society, Indiana Historical Society and the North Manchester Shepherd's Center. He was a life member of the North Manchester Church of the Brethren.
Mr. Beery was born on June 25, 1914, in Rushville, Ohio, the son of Percy T. and Grace M. (Bagwell) Beery. He married E. Maurine Brower of South English, Iowa, Aug. 19, 1939. She died in July 1997. He then married Lavonne (Bucher) Grossnickle, Sept. 6, 1998, and she survives. He graduated from Chester Township High School in 1932. He also managed Clay Syler's elevator and feed mill in Liberty Mills from 1932 to 1940, and worked for Hinkel Hatchery from 1941 to 1942. Also surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Bob (Joyce) Miles, Jacksonville, Fla., and Mrs. Thomas (Lois) Fulmer, Cincinnati; two sons, Delbert (Connie) Beery, North Manchester, and Lynn E. Beery, Wabash; three brothers, Donald W. Beery and Robert W. Beery, both of North Manchester, and Dale B. Beery of Claypool; two stepdaughters; 10 step-grand-children; and 18 step-great-grandchildren. Two brothers and two sisters, including Isabel Lynn, are deceased.
Funeral service is 10:30 a.m. Friday, with calling one hour prior, at North Manchester Church of the Brethren. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Grandstaff0Hentgen Funeral Service, North Manchester. Burial at Fairview Cemetery, Servia. Preferred memorials to Community Foundation of Wabash County, The Glen A. Beery Endowment for the Wabash County ARC, 218 E. Main St., P.O. Box 98, North Manchester, IN 46962.
Source: The Journal Gazette, October 2, 2003