Michael Emery Beck

1941 ~ 2014
Michael (Mike) Emery Beck passed away on August 29, 2014 with loving family at his side.
Mike was born on August 21, 1941, in Nephi, Utah, to Langley Eugene and Verda (Rapplye) Beck. After graduating from Juab High School, he served an LDS mission to Paris, France, and gained a lifelong love of the French people and culture. It was at the University of Utah that he met the love of his life, Elaine (Stuart) Beck; they married in the Salt Lake Temple on December 3, 1964 and graduated together with degrees in mathematics the following year. After starting his career as an engineer at Boeing, Mike pursued an MBA at the University of Washington followed by a long and successful career at IBM, which resulted in him moving around the country and included an assignment in his beloved Paris, France. Mike served in many callings in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He had a quiet but strong testimony of the gospel ; one of his last outings out of the house was to church to get his temple recommend renewed.
Mike will be remembered for his love of his family (especially his young grandchildren), being a bit of a renegade thinker, and his infectious laugh. Mike loved to travel and spent his retirement years visiting grandchildren often and seeing the world with his wife and their friends. He was always busy until the final years of his life when he met his multiple health challenges with a persistence and courage that is a true testament to enduring to the end.
Mike is survived by his wife Elaine and his four children Michele, Philip (Jennifer), Matt (Michelle), and Scott (Alyssa). Mike is also survived by his twelve grandchildren: Alexander, Erin, Devin, Stuart, Kamden, Gabriella, Joshua, Theo, Rylie, Jason, Madeleine, and Marcus. He is preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Betty, and survived by his brother Fred and sister Cherrinda.
A funeral was held on September 2, 2014 in his LDS ward in Colleyville, Texas. A second informal memorial service will be held at 4:00 pm on Saturday, November 8, 2014 at the Ensign First Ward, 135 A Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Alpha 1 Foundation, www.alpha1portal.org.