Rex Beam

Rex Beam, 59, of Lewellen passed away at his home on Friday, February 5, 2016.

Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at the Lewellen Tiger Den with Pastor Jeniffer Brand officiating and Masonic Rites provided by Oshkosh Lodge #286. Burial will follow in the Ash Hollow Cemetery near Lewellen.

Cremation has taken place and there will be no visitation.

Memorials in Rex’s name can be made to the Lewellen United Methodist Church or to the Kowanda Historical Church.

Holechek Funeral Home and Cremations in Oshkosh is serving the Beam family.

Rex Duane Beam was born October 14th, 1956 at the hospital in Oshkosh, Nebraska. He perished in a fire February 5th, 2016 that took the ancestral home on Clear Creek in northwest Keith County, Nebraska. In the intervening years, he loved and was loved by the citizens of Keith and Garden County and lived his entire life on the family farm. Rex rode a horse to grade school at District 27 for 9 years and graduated from Lewellen Rural High School in 1975. During this period he was active in 4-H, Cub & Boy Scouts and MYF. Following his secondary education, he received an associate’s degree from Central Community College in Hastings and was engaged in construction with his father until the latter’s death in 1997. In 2005 he began his beloved employment with the Garden County School System, where his career (in his words) was “always picking up”.

Rex was the youngest son of LaVere Beam and Mary Clark Beam and joined brothers Lanny and Mark in the old rock house as they grew to adulthood. Rex opted to stay with his parents through his mother’s 24 year battle with cancer and through his father’s journey in the twilight of his life. Always a nurturer, he was appreciated by every person that he had ever stopped to change a tire for, lasso a horse, or bring groceries out to their house.
He was very active in his community, serving in many capacities at the Lewellen United Methodist Church. Rex taught Sunday School classes at both the Methodist and Wesleyan churches in Lewellen and went on numerous mission trips to the Shiprock, New Mexico reservation. He served as president of the local square dance club, was Past Master of the Masons, past president of the Lewellen Lions club, and a volunteer for any activity that would promote his beloved communities of Lewellen and Oshkosh. As a trustee for his father’s south-table church, the Kowanda Historical Church, he participated in finishing the roof shingling and drove the last nail in the spire on top of the bell tower. Rex was an active participant in the Ash Hollow Pageant and the Garden County Fair as a Lion.

Rex is survived by brothers Lanny (Sheryl) of Sioux Falls & sons Lane and Dan (Jadie); Mark (Nita) of Holdrege & sons Wes (Heather) and Gabe; his aunt Neva Richter, uncle Warren Messman, and Rex’s mother’s cousin and foster uncle Bud Knoell (Clara Mae) as well as 3 great nieces, 19 cousins and a myriad of other relatives and friends.