Roger Westman Beed

Roger Westman Beed August 13, 1927 - January 24, 2024 Roger was born in Los Angeles, CA on Aug. 13, 1927 to Sterling and Christina Beed. His sister Joan joined the family 7 years later. Roger spent many summers on his grandparents farm outside of San Diego, developing a love of the land and farming. He combined this with an innovative and inquiring mind that was always thinking of new and better ways to make things work. Roger joined the navy at 17 in 1945 as a radar specialist and graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1953 with a B.S. in Animal Husbandry. After graduation, Roger went down to imperial Valley California to work with some friends to set up a cattle field operation. He was set up on a blind date with Elizabeth “Liz” Ruegger and 9 months later married on Sept. 3, 1955. Their first daughter Linda was born in 1959. They moved to Baggs, Wyoming and tried their hand at cattle ranching. A year later Denise (1961) then Barb (1963) joined the family. After ranching for eight years, they decided to move back to California for a few years to be closer to family. Roger had a career change and started working at Georgia Pacific as an electrician and maintenance person. Eventually he transferred to Oregon and settled on 2 acres outside of Sherwood, OR in 1971. A friend at their local church convinced Roger to go back to farming, so they bought 18 acres and grew onions. Roger could fix, build, or grow most things, or figure it out if he didn’t already know. He also worked at Camp Tilikum, Baggenstos farm, and Current Electronics. Roger loved his family and was involved as a scout leader, youth group leader, and on-call handyman for the kids. After retiring at age 71, Roger volunteered with Habitat For Humanity, the Newberg Library, Friendsview carpentry shop and sound technician. He has always enjoyed fixing and building things, gardening, carpentry, and carving. He also tracked the stock market and made investments, much like his mother. He enjoyed being of service and was always willing to help friends and neighbors. He was a loving and dedicated husband, caring for Liz until she passed in 2018 from Parkinsons. Their marriage was filled with companionship, laughter, hard work, and time shared. He will always be in our hearts as the creative grandpa who would build go carts and wooden toys and the father who loved us, taught us all the things we needed to know, and was always just a phone call away. Family honoring his life include his sister Joan, daughters Linda Klugh, Denise Brooks, and Barb Jackson, sons-in-law Dave Klugh, Kevin Brooks, and Mike Jackson, six grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held at 1 o’clock on Friday, February 16th at Attrell’s Funeral Home in Newberg. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Newberg Habitat For Humanity.