Mary Beard

Mary Strouss Vance Beard, 95, of Ottawa, died Monday, June 25, 2012 at OFS St. Elizabeth Hospital in Ottawa. Funeral Service will be 11:00 am Friday, June 29, 2012 at Ottawa Funeral Home with Rev. David Esterline officiating. Visitation will be Friday, June 29, 2012 two hours prior to services at Ottawa Funeral Home. Burial will be in Precinct Cemetery, Earlville. Mary was born May 29, 1917, in Earlville, Illinois, to Leighton and Mayme (Meads) Strouss. She attended Earlville Grade School and was a 1935 graduate of Earlville High School. She married Forrest "Dazzy" Vance on August 30, 1940 in Earlville; he died August 30, 1972. She then married Edward "Dugan" Beard on November 26, 1975; he passed away December 12, 2003. She worked for twenty-five years at Marathon Electric. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Earlville. She is survived by one son, David Vance of Millington, IL; three granddaughters, Kristin (Fred) Stonehouse of San Jose, CA., Kerrin (Joseph) Opp of Sugar Grove, IL., Kallin (Patrick Catel) Vance of Chicago; two step-granddaughters, Pamela (David) Lowe of Carmel, IN., and Marr La (Joseph) Li Puma of Princeton Junction, NJ.; and nine great-grandchildren, Andrew and Brittany Stonehouse, Josh and Sophie Opp, Justin and Marissa Lowe, Johnathan, Katherine, and Christina Li Puma. She is also survived by some special friends whom she considered family: Yvette Baiz and her son Jordan, Brenda Burton and family, and her special caretaker, Maggie Kerwin. She was preceded in death by both of her husbands, Forrest Vance and Edward Beard; three brothers, NE "Bob", Irvin, and Ray Strouss; three sisters, Beatrice Keyes, Harriett Larsen, and June Chwasz, and a step-daughter, Jean Beard Voight in 2004.