Loretta Marie Beckner (nee Miller)

Loretta Marie Beckner (nee Miller)

Beloved wife, loving mother, grandmother and dear friend passed away in Aiken after an extended battle with pancreatic cancer. Loretta was born in Hays, Kansas, January 19, 1949. She was the second of 7 children born to Frank and Elizabeth (Haffner) Miller.

Growing up on a wheat farm in the high plains of western Kansas, she was greatly influenced by the stories of her grandparents who had emigrated to the United States in 1900 from the Odessa region of what is now Ukraine. She was instilled with the values of love, respect, kindness and compassion for which she was known throughout her life. A strong will and an equally strong work ethic accompanied by deep curiosity and a sense of adventure fueled her search for a more exciting life than that found on the farm. After graduating from Fort Hays State College with majors in psychology and sociology, she applied for a job with the US Government and ended up in Washington, D.C. employed by the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1975, her first overseas assignment was to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she met Mike and they married there in 1976. Their foreign service career helped fulfill Loretta’s desire to seek adventure in exotic locations as they subsequently lived in Vientiane, Laos, Madrid, Spain, Caracas, Venezuela, Mexico City, Mexico and Pretoria, South Africa. Their two sons, Michael and Brett, were born in Madrid and Caracas, respectively.

Loretta made many lifelong friends around the dinner table in the countries where she lived. An accomplished cook, she found that the best way to really get to know people – regardless of nationality or culture – was through an appreciation of their local food. She learned to prepare the national dishes of all the countries where they lived as well as many more ethnic dishes from many nations. While stationed in the Washington, D.C., area she was an assistant to a chef at L’ Academie de Cuisine in Rockville, MD. She also baked for a caterer, and her baked goods were always a hit. She was at her happiest when she prepared a meal for family and friends.

A love of sports, especially tennis, also resulted in lifelong friendships. She remains very close with many tennis friends in Mexico City. While in the D.C. area she played competitively with several local clubs. During a period of rehabilitation from tennis injuries, Loretta became an avid pickleball player. Soon after moving to Aiken in 2010, Loretta was horrified to learn that there was nowhere to play pickleball in Aiken – very few people had even heard of it. She quickly advised Mike that they would just have to move somewhere where it was played. Thankfully, before calling a moving company, she checked with Glenn Parker, Jessica Campbell and Jeff Metz of the City of Aiken Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to see if they would allow her to give a demonstration of this oddly named sport and they readily agreed. With the strong support of PRT, pickleball was introduced to Aiken, and is now enjoyed by many Aikenites.

A spirit of adventure endured throughout her life and not long before her diagnosis of cancer, she and sister Mary trekked 100 kilometers across northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago. Before that she and sister Jeanie hiked the highlands of Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas. She also explored Mayan ruins in the interior of Guatemala, traveled on the Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town in addition to participating in multiple safaris in South Africa and Tanzania. One highlight was sleeping in a gardenia tree above a waterhole visited by lions at night. She loved being outdoors surrounded by nature; walking with her friends in the woods gave her a feeling of serenity and reinforced her spirituality.

Loretta’s strong conviction to helping others through volunteering included serving for 15 years as a hospice volunteer, counseling at a bereavement camp for children, teaching English as a second language while overseas, working in Puerto Rico with Jeanie in aiding a village devastated by hurricane Maria, serving as a member of St. Thaddeus church’s vestry and other ministries, chairing the transportation committee for Joye in Aiken for many years and as treasurer of the Friends of the Aiken County Library during the recently completed $4M capital improvement project. Her dedication to the community also included working with her friends Bill Wright and Janet Kabel on voter registration. However, she believed the most important volunteer effort she was ever involved in was the founding of an adult literacy program in Aiken, Turning Pages, in partnership with her dear friend Janet Kabel.

Loretta’s kindness, compassion, sparkling personality, and a deep sense of fun and adventure will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her.

Survivors include husband Mike, sons Michael and Brett, granddaughter Elowyn and siblings Frank, Bill (Debbie), Mary (Scott), Jeanie (Mike), Terry and Tim (Ann) and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held Saturday afternoon, December 13th at 2 o’clock at St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church. Interment will follow in the churchyard. A reception will immediately follow in the Stevenson McClelland Parrish House.

In lieu of flowers, those interested are encouraged to donate to any of the following organizations:
The Soup Kitchen at St. Thaddeus
Friends of the Aiken County Library at PO Box 7041, Aiken, SC 29804 and memo line in Memory of Loretta Beckner
Literacy SC

SHELLHOUSE – RIVERS FUNERAL HOME, 715 EAST PINE LOG RD., AIKEN, SC