Joseph Charles Beaver

 Chicago Tribune, May 24, 2004
 

Beaver, Dr. Joseph Charles

Dr. Joseph Charles Beaver, age 83, resident of Iris Park Commons, St. Paul, died May 22 after a 27 year battle with cancer.  He leaves behind his wife of 59 years, Verna, nee Tamborelle; daughters Susan (Sherman Eagles) Conner, Ellen (Fr. Buck) Lea; son Thomas (Dr. Mary Bodie); grandchildren: Tyson Conner, Dr. Adrienne (Dr. Jeff) Schucker, Eric and Joseph Housley, Katlyn Bodie-Beaver; and great-granddaughter Amelia Schucker; brother William Lee (Mary Eva).  He was born in Paducah, Kentucky, received a B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University in New York City and a Ph.D. from New York University.  Dr. Beaver reached the rank of Lt. Senior Grade after three years of service with the U.S. Coast Guard aboard an L.S.T. in Europe and the Mediterranean during World War II.  He then pursued a teaching career, becoming head of the English Department at Hastings College, Hastings, Nebraska before changing to American English/Linguistics and serving as Department Chairman at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago for the balance of his career.  His publications include: Walt Whitman, Poet of Science, The Prosody of John Donne, and numerous scholarly articles.  As a student of organists Karl Weinrich of Princeton and Alexander Schreiner of the Mormon Tabernacle, he became an organist/choir director, an avocation he enjoyed for decades.  He formed an a cappella group called the Beauvoir Singers that sang in the Chicago area for many years.  An avid birder, he reached a life list of 656 birds seen in the lower 48 states before his sight and hearing began to fail.  In retirement, he earned a Master of Theological Studies at Seabury Western Seminary in Evanston and, after moving to the Twin Cities, preached on occasion in Episcopal churches in the Twin Cities, and at St. Michael's and All Angels in Sanibel, Florida, where he also played the organ during the season.  Service 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Clement's Episcopal Church, 901 Portland Ave., St. Paul.  Private interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.  Visitation 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Willwerscheid Funeral Home, 1167 Grand Ave., St. Paul, 651-228-1006.  In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to St. Clement's Church in St. Paul, the Minnesota Ornithological Union, or Iris Park Commons.