Michael Beets

Michael Eugene Beets
Arenzville - Michael Eugene Beets, 76, of Arenzville, died Thursday, August 29, 2024, at his home. He was born November 5, 1947, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Dorothy Beets, and was raised by his grandparents, Bascom and Margaret Hahling Beets. Mike married Mary Osborne in 1982 and they had three children together, and later divorced. Mike married Catherine Lynch Studer on February 16, 2008, and she survives in Arenzville.
Mike is also survived by his three children, Jennifer (Richard) Day and Katie (Brian Houck) Beets, both of Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Benjamin (Becky) Beets of Lakeview, Oregon; two step-children, Erin Studer of Jacksonville and Christopher (Stacey) Studer of Nolensville, Tennessee; seven grandchildren, Emma, Trace, Huck and Kynlee Beets, Josie Grimsley, Addi Mae Studer, and Thomas Studer; one sister, Patricia McDermott of Springfield, and one niece, Erin (Robert) Scott of Springfield. He was preceded in death by his mother Dorothy Beets Thurman, and stepfather, Robert Thurman.
Mike was raised in Arenzville and graduated from Triopia High School in 1966. He served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War from 1968-71. He worked at Huey Lumber Products in Arenzville and was a journeyman carpenter with Carpenter's Local Union 904 in Jacksonville. He later worked for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources at Siloam Springs, retiring in 2009.
Mike served with the Arenzville Fire Department for 47 years. Ever the patriot, he was an active member of the Arenzville American Legion Post 604 and National Rifle Association. In addition, he was a member of the Beardstown Elks. Mike was a keen hunter, a passionate and knowledgeable gunsmith, and an avid gardener. He was brutally honest and had a story for every occasion. If you asked Mike what time it was, he would tell you how to build a clock.
A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Thursday, September 5, 2024, at St. Fidelis Catholic Church in Arenzville, with burial at Walnut Ridge Cemetery in Virginia, where military and firefighter honors will be conducted. The family will meet friends from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Williamson Funeral Home in Jacksonville, where a prayer service will be conducted at 3:30 p.m. Memorials are suggested to St. Fidelis Catholic Church or St. Jude’s Children's Research Hospitals. Condolences may be left online at www.airsman-hires.com.