Dr. William Walter Beckner Jr., 92, passed peacefully from this life on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014. His beloved wife of 67 years, his oldest daughter, and caregiver, Robin, of Charlotte's Home in Boonsboro, Md., were at his side.
He was born 92 years ago on a small farm in Rockbridge Baths, Va., one of four children of Mary Frances Hart Beckner and William Walter Beckner Sr.
He graduated magna cum laude from Hampden-Sydney College with a degree in chemistry.
He worked briefly at a DuPont explosives facility before enlisting in the U.S. Army. Not satisfied with a desk job, he transferred to the famous 82nd Airborne and spent World War II parachuting out of airplanes. Most notably, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where nearly as many fatalities were due to freezing as to enemy fire. Among medals he earned were the European Theater Ribbon with three Battle Stars, French Croix de Guerre and Netherlands Orange Lanyard. His unit was the first non-Dutch entity to receive this award.
After the war, he used the GI Bill to attend the Medical College of Virginia. Following graduation and an internship in Panama, he was honorably discharged in 1950 with the rank of first lieutenant, Medical Corps Reserves. He married Wanda Louise Jacobs of Reidsville, N.C., and started a family.
He and his bride trained for missionary work in the Congo, but illness and civil wars ended their dream. Many years later, he was able to spend a month in the Congo doing surgery at a bush mission station. He loved it.
He completed a residency in eye, ear, nose and throat at Duke University and moved his family to Hagerstown, Md., where he practiced medicine for more than 30 years. Besides fitting glasses and contact lenses, he repaired retinal detachments, removed cataracts, and saved eyes from the effects of arrows and air guns. He also had a practice in Lexington, Va., during the 1970s. He was respected by colleagues and loved by patients.
He is survived by his wife, Wanda Jacobs Beckner of Reidsville; daughters, Beth Beckner-Mills and husband, Doug, of Falling Waters, W.Va., Marsha B. Yarbrough and husband, James, of Fremont, Calif., and Jane B. Mauk and husband, Greg, of Winchester, Va.; sons, William D. Beckner and wife, Suzanne Krepp Beckner, of Rockville, Md., and Richard Beckner of Winchester; siblings, Mary Frances Gaynor and Bernice Rexrode of Waynesboro, Va., and Wallace Beckner of Rockbridge Baths; and many loving grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was a longtime member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Williamsport, Md.
In accordance with his wishes, he will be cremated. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte, N.C.; or Hospice of Washington County.
To the wonderful caregivers at Charlotte's Home and Hospice: Thank you.
He was born 92 years ago on a small farm in Rockbridge Baths, Va., one of four children of Mary Frances Hart Beckner and William Walter Beckner Sr.
He graduated magna cum laude from Hampden-Sydney College with a degree in chemistry.
He worked briefly at a DuPont explosives facility before enlisting in the U.S. Army. Not satisfied with a desk job, he transferred to the famous 82nd Airborne and spent World War II parachuting out of airplanes. Most notably, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where nearly as many fatalities were due to freezing as to enemy fire. Among medals he earned were the European Theater Ribbon with three Battle Stars, French Croix de Guerre and Netherlands Orange Lanyard. His unit was the first non-Dutch entity to receive this award.
After the war, he used the GI Bill to attend the Medical College of Virginia. Following graduation and an internship in Panama, he was honorably discharged in 1950 with the rank of first lieutenant, Medical Corps Reserves. He married Wanda Louise Jacobs of Reidsville, N.C., and started a family.
He and his bride trained for missionary work in the Congo, but illness and civil wars ended their dream. Many years later, he was able to spend a month in the Congo doing surgery at a bush mission station. He loved it.
He completed a residency in eye, ear, nose and throat at Duke University and moved his family to Hagerstown, Md., where he practiced medicine for more than 30 years. Besides fitting glasses and contact lenses, he repaired retinal detachments, removed cataracts, and saved eyes from the effects of arrows and air guns. He also had a practice in Lexington, Va., during the 1970s. He was respected by colleagues and loved by patients.
He is survived by his wife, Wanda Jacobs Beckner of Reidsville; daughters, Beth Beckner-Mills and husband, Doug, of Falling Waters, W.Va., Marsha B. Yarbrough and husband, James, of Fremont, Calif., and Jane B. Mauk and husband, Greg, of Winchester, Va.; sons, William D. Beckner and wife, Suzanne Krepp Beckner, of Rockville, Md., and Richard Beckner of Winchester; siblings, Mary Frances Gaynor and Bernice Rexrode of Waynesboro, Va., and Wallace Beckner of Rockbridge Baths; and many loving grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was a longtime member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Williamsport, Md.
In accordance with his wishes, he will be cremated. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte, N.C.; or Hospice of Washington County.
To the wonderful caregivers at Charlotte's Home and Hospice: Thank you.
Dr. William Walter Beckner Jr., 92, passed peacefully from this life on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014. His beloved wife of 67 years, his oldest daughter, and caregiver, Robin, of Charlotte's Home in Boonsboro, Md., were at his side.
He was born 92 years ago on a small farm in Rockbridge Baths, Va., one of four children of Mary Frances Hart Beckner and William Walter Beckner Sr.
He graduated magna cum laude from Hampden-Sydney College with a degree in chemistry.
He worked briefly at a DuPont explosives facility before enlisting in the U.S. Army. Not satisfied with a desk job, he transferred to the famous 82nd Airborne and spent World War II parachuting out of airplanes. Most notably, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where nearly as many fatalities were due to freezing as to enemy fire. Among medals he earned were the European Theater Ribbon with three Battle Stars, French Croix de Guerre and Netherlands Orange Lanyard. His unit was the first non-Dutch entity to receive this award.
After the war, he used the GI Bill to attend the Medical College of Virginia. Following graduation and an internship in Panama, he was honorably discharged in 1950 with the rank of first lieutenant, Medical Corps Reserves. He married Wanda Louise Jacobs of Reidsville, N.C., and started a family.
He and his bride trained for missionary work in the Congo, but illness and civil wars ended their dream. Many years later, he was able to spend a month in the Congo doing surgery at a bush mission station. He loved it.
He completed a residency in eye, ear, nose and throat at Duke University and moved his family to Hagerstown, Md., where he practiced medicine for more than 30 years. Besides fitting glasses and contact lenses, he repaired retinal detachments, removed cataracts, and saved eyes from the effects of arrows and air guns. He also had a practice in Lexington, Va., during the 1970s. He was respected by colleagues and loved by patients.
He is survived by his wife, Wanda Jacobs Beckner of Reidsville; daughters, Beth Beckner-Mills and husband, Doug, of Falling Waters, W.Va., Marsha B. Yarbrough and husband, James, of Fremont, Calif., and Jane B. Mauk and husband, Greg, of Winchester, Va.; sons, William D. Beckner and wife, Suzanne Krepp Beckner, of Rockville, Md., and Richard Beckner of Winchester; siblings, Mary Frances Gaynor and Bernice Rexrode of Waynesboro, Va., and Wallace Beckner of Rockbridge Baths; and many loving grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was a longtime member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Williamsport, Md.
In accordance with his wishes, he will be cremated. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte, N.C.; or Hospice of Washington County.
To the wonderful caregivers at Charlotte's Home and Hospice: Thank you.
He was born 92 years ago on a small farm in Rockbridge Baths, Va., one of four children of Mary Frances Hart Beckner and William Walter Beckner Sr.
He graduated magna cum laude from Hampden-Sydney College with a degree in chemistry.
He worked briefly at a DuPont explosives facility before enlisting in the U.S. Army. Not satisfied with a desk job, he transferred to the famous 82nd Airborne and spent World War II parachuting out of airplanes. Most notably, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where nearly as many fatalities were due to freezing as to enemy fire. Among medals he earned were the European Theater Ribbon with three Battle Stars, French Croix de Guerre and Netherlands Orange Lanyard. His unit was the first non-Dutch entity to receive this award.
After the war, he used the GI Bill to attend the Medical College of Virginia. Following graduation and an internship in Panama, he was honorably discharged in 1950 with the rank of first lieutenant, Medical Corps Reserves. He married Wanda Louise Jacobs of Reidsville, N.C., and started a family.
He and his bride trained for missionary work in the Congo, but illness and civil wars ended their dream. Many years later, he was able to spend a month in the Congo doing surgery at a bush mission station. He loved it.
He completed a residency in eye, ear, nose and throat at Duke University and moved his family to Hagerstown, Md., where he practiced medicine for more than 30 years. Besides fitting glasses and contact lenses, he repaired retinal detachments, removed cataracts, and saved eyes from the effects of arrows and air guns. He also had a practice in Lexington, Va., during the 1970s. He was respected by colleagues and loved by patients.
He is survived by his wife, Wanda Jacobs Beckner of Reidsville; daughters, Beth Beckner-Mills and husband, Doug, of Falling Waters, W.Va., Marsha B. Yarbrough and husband, James, of Fremont, Calif., and Jane B. Mauk and husband, Greg, of Winchester, Va.; sons, William D. Beckner and wife, Suzanne Krepp Beckner, of Rockville, Md., and Richard Beckner of Winchester; siblings, Mary Frances Gaynor and Bernice Rexrode of Waynesboro, Va., and Wallace Beckner of Rockbridge Baths; and many loving grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was a longtime member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Williamsport, Md.
In accordance with his wishes, he will be cremated. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte, N.C.; or Hospice of Washington County.
To the wonderful caregivers at Charlotte's Home and Hospice: Thank you.
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