We regret to announce the death of Pat Beckman who died at her home in California, August 18, 2011.
The
Cullom Beckman Memorial Library is saddened to share news of the passing of one of its founding families.
Ms Pat Beckman was the daughter of Dr. Arnold O. Beckman who provided funding to help establish the Cullom Beckman
Memorial Library in our community. Pat was laid to rest in the West Lawn Cemetery in Cullom on Saturday, November 12, 2011 in a private family ceremony. Pat
was a Library Board Member for many years and kept in touch with friends in the community throughout the years. Donations
may be made in her memory to the Cullom Beckman Memorial Library.
Gloria Patricia (Pat) Beckman, 78, died at her home in Corona
Del Mar, Ca in August 2011.
Pat was born on March 7, 1933 in New York City and lived briefly in Chicago
before moving to California with her family at age 3. She was the daughter of the late Dr. Arnold O. and Mabel M. Beckman.
Pat earned her Bachelor of Science degree in occupational therapy from Mills
College and her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Cal State
Los Angeles. She worked as an Occupational Therapist and RN for many years.
Pat was the founding president and member of the Orange County chapter of the ARCS Foundation (Achievement Rewards for College Scholars) and also sat on
the boards of the Chicago, Colorado and Pittsburgh chapters. She was an active board member of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation,
a lifetime trustee of the California Institute of Technology as well as a board member of the Caltech Chemical and Chemical
Engineering Division. She was also a member of the UCI Nursing Program Leadership Council and served earlier on the UCLA School
of Nursing Advisory Board.
Pat was an avid traveler and spent weeks and months at a time on her adventures around the world. She loved nature
and hiking, gardening, reading, and most of all encouraging young people in their pursuit of science and education. She was
a quiet but very generous philanthropist. There are hundreds if not thousands
of people she affected with her generosity and kindness.
Pat was loved by her family and her many friends, she will be missed.
She is survived by her brother, nephews, Arnold W. Beckman and his wife Pamela, Kurt D. Beckman and his wife Cambria, three grandnephews, Nicholas, James, and Jake Beckman and one grandniece, Ashley White. There
is also a large network of close family and close family members who will miss her greatly.
