Jack Turley Beecroft

Surrounded by his loving family, Jack Turley Beecroft passed away Friday afternoon, July 3, 2015, at his home in Linden, Navajo County, Arizona following a lengthy illness. He was 84 years old. He lived in Linden for 26 years after retiring from his electrical business in El Paso, Texas. He was born in Colonia Garcia, Chihuahua, Mexico to Albert Farnsworth and Pauline Turley Beecroft on October 18, 1930. He lived in Mexico until he finished high school in May of 1948, when he graduated from the Juarez Stake Academy in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. That summer he received an invitation to play baseball for a team in El Paso, Texas. He worked for an electrical contractor as well, and obtained his electrician's license just before leaving to serve a 2-1/2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of which he was a lifelong member. Jack married Dorothy Marilyn Cannon in the Mesa Arizona Temple of the Church on February 5, 1954. The next month (March 1954) "Uncle Sam" asked him to serve in the United States Army for 2 years during the Korean Conflict. He did his basic training in El Paso, Texas. He was then put into a classified school in El Paso and was chosen to be an instructor in the same school after graduating. He remained in El Paso until his honorable military discharge. After his discharge, he worked as an electrician again and gained his electrical contractor's license. In 1960, Jack formed his own company, Beek Electric, which he ran until June, 1984 when he was called to be the mission president for the Mexico, Veracruz Mission, and served there with his wife until June of 1987. Jack loved the Mexican people and could speak the language like the natives. Many times the people asked this "gringo" where he learned to speak Spanish. He would proudly announce, "I am a Mexican, too!" He had dual citizenship! During his time as an electrical contractor in El Paso, he also bought a 33,000 acre cattle ranch in Mexico. It took him 4 hours by truck to drive to El Rancho San Francisco, all on dirt roads, so he finally got his pilot's license, which cut his travel time to the ranch down to 40 minutes. In 1989, Jack retired from Beek Electric and moved to Linden, Arizona with his wife. They came to love the White Mountain people. Jack and Marilyn served three more missions to Mexico for their church...one in the temple presidency in Mexico City, another as the area welfare agent for the Mexico South Area, and the last in the temple presidency in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, just north of Guatemala. Jack also served as cannery manager of the Snowflake Cannery and as a sealer in the Snowflake Temple for 7 years. Jack loved the out-of-doors...hunting, fishing and sea fishing. He loved everything about ranching...riding horses, rounding up cattle, etc. He loved his family and was very proud of his children. He loved to tease big kids and little kids alike. Jack is survived by his wife, Marilyn and their 5 children: Randy (Renee) Beecroft, Becky (Steve) Harrington, Tina (Preston) Root, Troy (Patricia) Beecroft and Lurline Ober. He loved his 16 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. His siblings are: June (Ralph) Martineau, Bette (Tone) Whetten, Lynette (Doc) Owen, Glen (Delna) Beecroft, and Bill (Jo) Beecroft. He had many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Albert and Pauline Beecroft and his 3 sisters. The visitation for Jack will be from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M., Friday, July 10, 2015, at Owens Livingston Mortuary - White Mountain Chapel, 320 N. 9th Street in Show Low, Arizona. The funeral service will begin 10:00 A.M., Saturday, July 11, 2015, at the Linden Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 971 Timberland Road in Linden, Arizona, where additional visitation will begin 1 hour prior. The concluding service with military honors will immediately follow at the Show Low Cemetery. Jack's family is thankful for all of the expressions of sympathy they have received during this time and are especially grateful for all of the prayers offered up on their behalf.