Frederick Earl Beardsley

Frederick “Fred” Earl Beardsley was born February 21, 1947 in Lawrence, Michigan. He died June 20, 2025 in Kalamazoo, MI. after a lengthy 2-year battle with cancer and other ailments. He was the son of Paul and Mary Henwood Beardsley and grew up in Gobles, MI.. For his first 10-years of school he attended Gobles Jr. Academy. For his Jr and Sr years he attended Cedar Lake Academy, Cedar Lake, MI., where he graduated in 1965. That fall he attended Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI. On Feb. 28, 1966 he was drafted and inducted into the U.S. Army. For several months he trained as a medic at Fort Sam Houston, TX., briefly transferred to Ft. Lewis, WA., and finally was stationed at Ft. Richardson, Anchorage, AK.. One of Fred’s assignments was to stabilize severely wounded soldiers being returned from the Vietnam war. While in Alaska he also spent three months at Ft. Greeley where he checked men exposed to poison gas. He also spent time working at a Niki missile site located on a mountaintop overlooking Anchorage. Later, Fred enjoyed recounting the magnificent Northern Lights visible during his many night shifts on that cold mountaintop.

On weekend leave’s Fred attended the Anchorage Seventh-day Adventist church. It was there he met his future wife, Jeralyn Sauder, a daughter of Harvey and Dorothy Brown Sauder. Harvey was the church pastor. During that period Fred also helped tear down the old original historic Alaska Fairground buildings in Palmer, AK.. He then helped build new cabins (still in use) at Camp Tukuskoya, Flat Lake, AK., using that same wood. On February 29, 1968, Fred, age 21, received an honorable discharge from the service. In order to make the nearly 4,000-mile trip home he bought a VW from his future father-in-law. He drove by himself down through the Yukon on the then extremely treacherous 1300-mile gravel Alaska Highway. At night he slept in the car for a few hours before continuing on to Michigan. Along the way, he stopped in Washington state and proposed to Jeralyn, who was attending Walla Walla College. In 1969 he went to work as a welder at Blueberry Equipment (“BEI”), in South Haven, MI.. At that time, it was the only company in the world building blueberry harvesters. On June 22, 1969, he married his sweetheart, Jeralyn Sauder, in Mansfield, OH.. The couple then purchased a home outside Gobles, MI. where their daughters, Theresa Kelly and Heidi were later born. In the late 1970’s the couple purchased land just a few miles away and built a new home. Fred continued working at BEI for the next 42 years until he retired as the companies longest serving employee. Throughout life Fred maintained his strong faith in God. He freely donated time to his church in various leadership roles and volunteer activities. In spare time he enjoyed golf, rockhounding, birdwatching, camping, and loved doing anything for his family. He died just 2 days shy of his 56th wedding anniversary with Jeralyn.

In addition to his parents, Fred was predeceased by a brother, Herb Beardsley, brother-in-law, Dick Scott, and brother-in-law, Mark Lawson. Survivors include his loving wife, Jeralyn, daughter Theresa Kelly Rupert (husband Sam), daughter Heidi Beardsley, grandson Noah Rupert, grandson Andrew Rupert (wife Alicia), sister Dixie Scott, brother Jim Beardsley (wife Becky), former sister-in-law, Judy McCreary, sister-in-law Barbara Lawson, sister-in-law Janice Miller (husband Greg), brother- in-law Randy Sauder, former sister-in-law, Kathy Sauder, along with other nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life service will be held at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Gobles, MI. Burial will take place at the Pine Grove Cemetery near his parents in Van Buren County, MI. Arrangements entrusted to Family First Funeral & Cremation Services of Marcellus, MI.