Mabel Teresa Beers

Mabel Teresa Beers, 85, affectionately known as Teresa of Hood River passed away April 1st, 2008 in Moab, Utah while traveling with family.

A service of remembrance is planned for 2:00 p.m., Friday, April 18th, 2008 at Anderson's Tribute Center. Pastor Terry Abbott of the Hood River Assembly of God Church will officiate.

Teresa was born May 4, 1922 in Quinter, Kansas to Vern and Pearl (Sturdivan) Kinzie. She attended school there through the seventh grade. One of her favorite pastimes all of her life, beginning in her childhood, was fishing. Her brother would stay home and she would go fishing with her dad. Her family moved to Odell and she began the 8th grade at Odell Grade School in 1935. She and her family spent countless hours fishing in this new outdoor paradise. She and Glen began dating the summer after their junior year. After graduation in 1940, Teresa attended beauty school in Portland and worked for a short-time as a beautician in Hood River. On September 21, 1941, she married Glen Albert Beers at Hood River, Oregon. In September 1942 they moved to “The Mine” up the mountain from Stayton, Oregon and spent a year there, Glen mostly hauling logs and Teresa mostly fishing and “learning” to make bread! In September 1943 they moved back to Odell and bought their home there in 1944. They were blessed with three children, Ellen, Marilyn and Russ. Teresa was always a stay-at-home mom, the June Cleaver type! She kept the books for Glen’s trucking business, and for recreation she and Glen loved to camp or take one-day road trips just for the scenery. She spent countless hours taking Marilyn and Ellen’s to their piano lessons and then listening to them practice! She and Glen joined a dance club and enjoyed many hours of learning different ballroom dances with their friends. They purchased a ski boat and took up waterskiing along with the kids. Later, when they retired from the trucking business they purchased a large apartment complex in Vancouver, Washington and lived there for a few years, managing the apartments with JR and Betty Ogden, who had been in the trucking business with them as well. They began traveling some at this time, but in 1977 they sold those apartments, put everything in storage and were able to travel for 10 years full time in their RV, visiting every state in the union including Alaska and Hawaii. Those were memorable years with numerous picture albums to prove it! In 1985 they purchased some land alongside JR and Betty in Yuma, Arizona where they’d been wintering for several years, and put a nice modular home next to their long-time friends and partners. They spent from 1980 to 1999 in Yuma enjoying their winters among friends and church members, and their summers in “Grandma Kinzie’s” back yard in Odell, spending time with their grandchildren and family. In 1999 they sold their home in Yuma and made the move to Flagstone Retirement Home in The Dalles, where they made many special new friends. Finally, in 2005 they decided to move into an apartment closer to daughter and family in Hood River, where Glen continues to reside.

Teresa and Glen’s biggest love outside their family was to travel and they’d seen a big part of the US. So, on March 24, they set out for one last trip with their daughter, Ellen. They traveled to St. George, Utah to see Teresa’s brother, Darrell and had a most precious visit with family there. On impulse, they decided to go on to Yuma, Arizona to see friends. Another great visit there and then took the scenic route home through eastern Utah. It was there, just south of Moab, Utah, that Teresa suffered congestive heart failure as they were driving and seeing the beautiful sights. One of Teresa’s last statements that morning was, “Oh, I’m sooooo glad we decided to come back this way.”

Teresa took pride in her children and in the later years her grandchildren and great grandchildren; she will be dearly missed. Teresa is survived by her husband of 66 years, Glen Beers of Hood River, Oregon; daughters, Ellen Anthony of Hood River, Oregon, Marilyn Bray of Gresham, Oregon, and son Russell Beers of Petersburg, Alaska; grandchildren Joshua Bray, Todd Wells and Shelley Cox; great grandchildren Joel Piersall, Camie Piersall and Savannah Cox; brother, Darrell Kinzie of St. George, Utah; and other distant family and many, many friends. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Teresa and Glen have been active in the Assembly of God Church in Hood River as well as in Bingen. Teresa’s family suggests that any memorial contributions be made in her memory to the Hood River Assembly of God Building Fund and sent care of Anderson’s.

Arrangements are under the direction of Anderson's Tribute Center (Funerals • Receptions • Cremations) 1401 Belmont Ave., Hood River, OR 97031 ~ 541-386-1000 ~ please visit www.andersonstributecenter.com to sign the family guest book and print a copy of Teresa’s obituary.