Wayne L. Beebe, age 83, of River Falls, WI, died peacefully on January 21, 2023, at his home in River Falls. Wayne was born on March 29, 1939 in River Falls, WI to Nolan and Hazel (Wanner) Beebe. He graduated from River Falls High School in 1957. He went on to earn undergraduate and Master’s degrees in teaching from UW-River Falls.
He married Kathleen Svercl on March 21, 1970, a marriage that would be blessed with almost 54 years of love and devotion, and two amazing children, Sharyl and Holly.
Wayne started working at age 11 by delivering milk in glass bottles for Bill Schultz. From there he worked for Kole Kolstad in his shoe store, for Stan Larson at Super Value, built clamped casement windows at Andersen Corporation, worked for Monarch Mobile Homes and helped build Tom Thumb trailers with his brother Dan. He worked for Gaylord Bystrom Heating and Sheet Metal, then went back to the grocery store and worked for Shorty Barr and Butch Veith in plumbing, heating and sheet metal. Around age 19-21 he worked as a Lab Assistant at UW-River Falls in the chemistry lab. During college Wayne student taught at Spring Valley, WI in 1961 and then taught his first year at New London, WI 1961-1962. At that time he also worked more in plumbing. In 1967-1968 the National Science Foundation sponsored him for a year at Academic Year Institute at San Jose, CA. After he was married he worked for Herb Cudd doing cement work and then building homes with a framing crew. Then Wayne began working again at UWRF laying blocks and bricks for the student union building. He taught math at River Falls Public Schools until retiring in June 2000 (39 years). While teaching he also sold real estate with Gary Kruger at Kruger Real Estate for many years. After retiring from River Falls Public Schools, Wayne taught as an Academic Instructor in the Math Department at UWRF. Wayne was also a 16-year member of the River Falls City Council and many years on the Planning Commission and Utility Commission.
Wayne loved spending time doing woodwork, building homes, adventures with Kathye, having coffee with the guys, playing cards with friends, traveling all 50 states plus 32 international countries and playing with his grandchildren, Ally and Olivia. He was also a big fan of sports, especially football. He coached Junior High football for 25 years and went to nearly every home high school football game during that time and after. He always lent a willing hand when asked for help and helped numerous students learn math “the long way” over the years. He loved helping them learn and seeing their progress. He will be most remembered for his “real world” speech and his many accomplishments in his life.
He is survived by his wife, Kathye; children, Sharyl Beebe and Holly (Jeff) Pizzi; two grandchildren, Allison and Olivia Pizzi; brother, J. Daniel Beebe (Lakeville MN); niece, Sue (Steve) Beebe-Viere; and sister, Marion Beebe (Tomah WI); nieces and nephews, Cathy Svercl, Julie Svercl, Thomas Svercl, Robert Svercl, Shayne Wanous and Christine Kelley. He is preceded in death by his parents, Nolan and Hazel Beebe, and sister-in-law, Barbara Beebe.
A Celebration of Wayne’s Life was held on Saturday, January 28, 2023 at 12 noon at Bakken-Young Funeral & Cremation Services 805 E Division Street River Falls, WI. Visitation was also held on Saturday from 10 am – 12 pm at the funeral home. Interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery at a later date. Arrangements are with Bakken-Young Funeral & Cremation Services.
Click here to watch a recording of Wayne’s service.
23 Comments
My condolences to his family. Mr. Beebe was one of my favorite teachers and supported by love of math and science. Thanks for helping me on my way, Mr. Beebe. You impacted thousands of young people in the community with your teaching.
A great man who will be so missed!
A great man, who will be so missed!
Our thoughts and prayers go out to family, so sorry to hear of Wayne’s passing. He will surely be missed by many.
Mr Bebee was a great teacher. He was my favorite math teacher. I enjoyed many conversations with him before school started each day.
Me. Beene, was one of the best! RiP.
Holly and family,
So very sorry to hear about the loss of your dad. Although didn’t get to know he surely sounded like a great guy! Deepest Sympathy.
So saddened to hear of Wayne’s passing. He was a great teacher, always encouraging your best work. Loved chats with him and Kathye when running into them while out and about in RF. Special man… he will be missed!
Deepest sympathy to all of you. I have very fond memories of Wayne and Kathye playing cards with my Mom and Dad and his great sense of humor and laugh. He will be missed by many.
Sending our sympathy and love to Shayl , Holly and family. I enjoyed teaching with your dad for many years. He was always so kind. We had a lot of good times and so many laughs.
I have never had the pleasure to meet you in person but one of my dearest friends was raised by you and all the wonderful stories I’ve heard, you made this world a wonderful place. My condolences to all those you’ve made a difference.
i want you all to know that your messages matter so deeply to all of us and that daddy cared, loved, and never stopped thinking about you all. He loved all of you so much, and he was so proud of you. His greatest joy was knowing he gave a student a chance and that they learned. We love you all.
I was so saddened to hear the news of Wayne’s passing. My deepest condolences go out to the family. He will be greatly missed.
I ‘ve known Wayne for 65 yrs. We can’t quit talking when we meet Wayne and Kathye. Best people
My condolences to Kathy and family. Wayne was special to many and I am proud to have had cousin Wayne in the family.
I’m so sorry for your loss! Thinking of you all. What a wonderful life for a wonderful man!
Our condolences to all Wayne’s family. He was a kind & compassionate man & will be missed.
He was a great man and was fun. So sorry to hear about his passing after a long and productive life.
So very sorry for your loss, Wayne was such a nice man, both Jerry and I had him as a teacher but would call him friend. Jerry’s father worked with Nolan as butchers at the Super Valu back in the 50s-60s.
Kathye, Sharyl, Holly and family: So sorry to hear of Wayne’s passing. He will always remain in your hearts. And he certainly had a life well lived. He touched so many hearts. Always enjoyed conversing with him. May God hold him in the palm of his hand. Rest in peace, Wayne.
Dear Holly and family. I sent you all my deepest condoleances . Wayne was my math teacher as i was on my exchane scholar year. Always eager to make sure this french girl understood the lesson. Exchanging making sure caring maki.g.jokes and teaching fun. We were happy to meet both of your parents in Chamonix for a diner. I have great memories with him.and Kathy. All my thoughts and.prayers to you all. With love Frédérique
He was a great teacher. He gave us a test once and we had like 2 minutes to complete it and was told to read the instructions first. Instructions were we didn’t have to take the test. He will be missed. Condolences to the family.
I knew Wayne mostly during his service as a City Council Alderperson. He was a respected and dedicated public servant and I certainly enjoyed working with him. Please accept my condolences in his passing.
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