However, another pursuit often lured Mr. Beatty from his family records – pursuing par. The French Lick native had retired his golf clubs while the couple’s four children were young. But most of the kids were grown when the Beattys moved to Morris, Ill., in 1974 because Mr. Beatty was named piping superintendent at a job there. Mrs. Beatty took up the game during the Morris years, and golfing together became the couple’s favorite pastime. After Mr. Beatty retired in 1985, they played courses all over the country.
Golf – not work – dictated the Beatty’s final move. They settled in Nashville, Tenn., in 1991 so they could chase the ball year round. Also, Music City was only a daylong drive to each of their children’s homes.
But these golden years in the South only lasted 24 months. The couple was playing golf in 1993 when an aneurysm in Mr. Beatty’s aorta started hemorrhaging. The aorta ruptured on the operating room table, but the surgeons miraculously saved him. Mr. Beatty escaped death, but his legs were lifeless. The golfer, gardener, household handyman, and professional putterer never walked again.
During a long, painful recovery, Mr. Beatty drew on the same character and strength that overcame the hardships of his youth. At his wife’s urging, he taught himself to operate a computer an alien technology to a 72-year-old pipe fitter. But his old life didn’t fit in a wheelchair, so he created one that would.
Piecing together the Beatty family history became a full-time mission instead of filler between golf rounds. The computer allowed instant access to records, other genealogists, and online family history sites. And Mr. Beatty literally received dozens of e-mails each day asking for information on the Beatty line. He once said he had accomplished more after he was in a wheelchair than in all the preceding years. In typical Marvin Beatty style, he then quipped that if productivity had been God’s intention, He could have been a bit more subtle.
Mr. Beatty is sorely missed by his children, Jim of Baton Rouge, La.; Greg (Patty) of Jacksonville, Fla.; Mike (Beth) of Homewood, Ill.; and Mary of Nashville, Tenn. He also leaves six grandchildren: Ryan, Kent, and Jennifer of Baton Rouge; Daniel and Matthew of Jacksonville; and Joanna of Homewood. Two brothers also survive: Don (Alberta) Beatty of Indianapolis, and Richard (Doreatha) Walls of Fort Wayne, Ind.
Mr. Beatty was interred at Ames Chapel Dec. 28. He requested that the remains of his beloved Billie, who was cremated, rest with him in the casket. Mr. Beatty said he slept next to her for 60 years, and he wanted to sleep next to her for eternity.
Donations may be made to the Paoli Public Library, 30 E. Court St., Paoli, Ind., 47454.