Obituaries

Thomas J. Beck

April 14, 2015

Thomas J. Beck, Professor Emeritus at Thaddeus Stevens College in Lancaster, passed away on April 14, 2015 at Hershey Medical Center. Tom was born in Lancaster, PA, the son of Edward J. and Mary Beck. He graduated from Lancaster Catholic High School in 1958 and found employment for a year at the Hamilton Watch Company. He enrolled in Millersville University and graduated with a major in both history and English in 1964. He received his Masters in Education from Temple University, Philadelphia.

Tom’s first employment after college graduation was with the School District of Lancaster as an English teacher at Edward Hand Junior High School. In 1971, he accepted a position at Thaddeus Stevens College where he taught a variety of communication topics until his retirement in 1999. His area of expertise was technical writing.

During his tenure at Stevens, Tom served on and chaired various college committees, some of which were instrumental in bringing Middle States’ Accreditation to Stevens. In 1992, he was president of the Faculty Senate. He held membership in a number of education associations.
Tom also taught business communications for the Penn State Branch Campus in Lancaster County.

Tom also held his real estate license for over 15 years with Dan Diller Realtors, of Lancaster.
After retiring from education, Tom and his wife enjoyed traveling to different parts of the world including over 60 countries. He was also an active member of both the Lancaster County Master Gardener Program and the Lancaster County Postcard Club, where he twice served as president. In 2005, he compiled a commemorative Centennial book about Stevens College for school’s 100th anniversary.

Tom’s hobbies were family photography, bird watching, and his great love was vegetable gardening, especially tomatoes and also dahlias.

He is survived by his loving wife, Betty J., Lititz, PA; and two daughters, Allison Gordon, wife of Barry, East Windsor, NJ and Pamela Degler of Lancaster; and two grandchildren, Alexander and Elizabeth, East Windsor, NJ.

A memorial service will be held on June 20, 2015 at 11:00, at Brick Gables, 800 East Newport Rd., Lititz. http://brickgables.com/. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Thaddeus Stevens Foundation, 740 East End Avenue, Lancaster, PA 17602.

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Condolences to the Family

August 05, 2015

Dear Betty,
This is Frank Albrecht. I tried to visit you tonight but couldn’t find your home. Could you give me a call please at 405-5505? I have kept you in prayer since Tom’s passing.
With love,
 
Frank and Elizabeth Soto Albrecht

May 02, 2015

Betty
I am so sorry about your loss of Tom.  You and he were most gracious to our family.  He had a dry but pleasant sense of humor.  I just wish that we might have met you a lot earlier in our respective lives.  I am sure he will be greatly missed by many but I hope the fond memories you have will bear you throught this difficult time.
With fond memories and heartfelt love for all of you.
Bill Heinaman

April 28, 2015

Dear Betty,
I am so sorry for your loss. I always think of Tom’s great sense of humor at the Postcard Club meetings and his funny postcard boards. My thoughts are with you in this difficult time.
Sincerely Bryan Benner

April 27, 2015

Betty and Pam,
I am sorry for your recent loss. Tom was a good person who I had the privledge to meet and get to know through Stevens and afterwards. Take care and may you find some peace in this time of loss.
Philip R. Garland

April 27, 2015

My deepest thoughts and prayers are with you.
Paul Miller

April 26, 2015

Dear Betty:
 
We are deeply sorry to hear Tom´s passed away. Tom was a fine man and he was a significant influence to our daughter. Our family is privileged to have known him. We remember when first meet him at Guayaquil airport in 1998 and in Kingsville for our daughter graduation in 2005. Please know that our family loves and cares about you.
Mercedes and Jose Cabezas

April 26, 2015

So sorry to hear of Tom’s passing.  Many memories of Tom from his days at Edward Hand.  My sincere condolences to the family.  Stuart Wahl

Services
Saturday, June 20, 2015
11:00 AM
Brick Gables
800 E. Newport Road
Lititz, PA
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