Tuesday, May 17, 2022

"...A Caring, Kind, Humble, and Gentle Man..."

Perry Allen Beguin was born to Hank and Aggie Beguin in Rushville, Nebraska on April 25, 1946.  He went to be with the Lord and his son Brent on May 6, 2022.  He grew up on the Beguin ranch 20 miles south of Rushville and was the youngest of four boys, Blake, Blayne, and Jerry.  He loved the Sandhills and the country way of life.  You can take the boy out of the country, but not the country out of the boy.  

He graduated from Rushville High School in 1964.  He attended Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Education from Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska.  

He was married to Verona Stephens on June 2, 1968.  To that union a son, Brent Allen, was born in 1971.  Shawn Henry was born in 1979 and Tina Marie was born in 1982.  He was a loving, devoted family man.  Friends and family knew him as a caring, kind, humble, and gentle man.  He had a great sense of humor once you got to know him and he never lost that.  

Perry worked for the Production Credit in Scottsbluff and Chadron Nebraska, and took a transfer to Pendleton, Oregon.  He also worked in the banking business both in Nebraska and South Dakota. While in Chadron he and his wife sponsored the CSC rodeo team, taking many road trips with those college kids. 

He was the Budget Officer and Rodeo Coach for Eastern Oregon State in LaGrande, Oregon.  One of the highlights for Perry was being chosen as the National Faculty President for the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association for the 1993-94 school year.  He retired from his own Real Estate Appraisal Business in 2015.   

Horses were always a part of his life.  In High School he tried every rodeo event.  In College he was the Calf Roping Champion for the Central Plains Collegiate Rodeo Champion in 1971.   After college he began team roping, first as a heeler, and eventually as a header.  After retirement he was able to spend some time roping in Arizona in the winter.   He was active in Rotary until his illness and was once awarded the annual Outstanding Rotary Member Award as well as the Distinguished Service Paul Harris Fellow Award.   He was a regular church attendant and served as a Deacon in Chadron, Nebraska and Spearfish, South Dakota.  He was a member of Connection Church in Belle Fourche, South Dakota and he knew the Lord as his personal savior.  

Perry was preceded in death by his mother Agnes (Aggie) and his father Jules Henry (Hank), son Brent, brothers Blake and Blayne, his sister-in-law Myrna, and his nephew Clint.

He is survived by his wife Verona, his son Shawn, and his daughter Tina Van Kley (Nick), his 3 granddaughters Carmen, Ariyana, and Ida, and his grandson Sidney, his brother Jerry (Karen), sisters-in-law Mary Jean and Judy, and many nieces and nephews.  

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 26 at the Connection Church (former Mountain View Baptist at exit 12) in Spearfish, South Dakota with a grave side service taking place on Friday at 1 p.m.  in Rushville, Nebraska.  The family suggests memorials to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Phoenix, Arizona or Hospice.  Donations may be sent to Chamberlain Funeral Home, Box 970, Chadron, Nebraska 69337.  

Honorary Pallbearers:  Dick Lesher, Larry Miller, Al Setera, Roger Whorton, Tom Willnerd, Andy Beguin, Rex Beguin, Doug Johnson, and Michael Schadegg.  

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

German POWs at Fort Robinson


German prisoners stand with American staff. Behind them is Varista Hall, the prisoner of war camp theater. “Varista” is a contraction of Variete im Stacheldraht. It means “variety (vaudeville) in barbed wire.” The marquee reads Freut euch des lebens (“rejoice in life”). It looks like a Christmas production. The Germans are probably members of the camp theater troupe.
 
By following the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. hoped to encourage humane treatment of American POWs. The U.S. also wanted the Germans to return home with good impressions of American culture and democracy. With that in mind, the little theater even screened Hollywood movies.
 
History Nebraska operates the Fort Robinson History Center

(Photo: History Nebraska RG2725-16)