Jeanne Beaty

Jeanne W. Beaty, 81, of Cape Girardeau passed away Friday, June 15, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

She was born Sept. 27, 1925, in Dell, Ark., daughter of the late George and Rosalind Whistle.

She and her four brothers and one sister spent their early years in Holland, Mo. In 10th grade her family moved back to Mississippi County, Ark., where she graduated high school at Manila in 1941.

At 21, she graduated from Blue Mountain College, Miss., with a BA degree in home economics, with emphasis in textiles and clothing and an art minor, in preparation for the clothing design work she had planned from early childhood. That fall she entered the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) on a teaching assistantship and earned an MS degree in textiles and clothing with art and retailing as minors.

Beaty and her four daughters moved to Dewitt, Ark., where she taught in the public schools for two years. In 1965, the family moved to Cape Girardeau, where she became a member of the home economics faculty at Southeast Missouri State University. She taught flat pattern design, tailoring and clothing construction and started the fashion merchandising program at the university. The teaching profession allowed her more time to raise her daughters.

After 22 years of teaching, she retired from Southeast and was able to do some traveling (twice to Europe and many places in this country) and a lot of visiting among friends and family.

In January 2004, she moved to Saxony Village in Cape Girardeau.

Beaty was of the Christian faith.

Loving survivors include her daughters, Donna (Mark) Boardman of Jackson, Lisa (Sam) Bishop of Cape Girardeau, Carla Collette of Seattle, Wash., and Kendra (Tom) Kersting of St. Louis.

Beaty loved spending time with her grandchildren, Kadin and Cimarron Boardman of Jackson, Braxton and Trenton Kersting of St. Louis and Lauren Bishop of Cape Girardeau.

In addition to her daughters and grandchildren, she is survived by two brothers, Fred Whistle of Searcy, Ark., Joy Whistle of Endicott, New York; and a sister, Donna June New of Searcy.

She was preceded in death by two brothers, Roy and Bob Whistle.

Friends may call today from 4 to 8 p.m. at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Funeral service will be Monday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home with the Rev. Jim Matthews officiating.

Interment will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to the American Lung Association or the charity of your choice.

Sympathy messages may be sent to the family online at www.mccombsfuneralhome.com.