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Note: MEMORIES OF LILLY JEAN BEAL When we were small I would dress Ronnie up like a girl. We had no other children to play with so spend a great deal of time together. I stayed with my folks until my first child was born because Butch was in the Army and due to be discharged about the time of her birth. I had to pay Ronnie $5 to walk with me in the evening and he would walk behind me and make fun of me saying I waddled like a duck. He would take me riding on his motorbike until the doctor found out and put a stop to it. One day we decided to play basketball in the drive and the ball went over the fence. He dared me to climb the fence and get the ball, I was 8 months along by then. Well I couldn't let him get away with that so up on the fence I went. I got straddle of it and couldn't get down. He was laughing so hard I thought he would never help me. As time went on things got in the way of our easy relationship and at times we didn't talk. Our mother delighted in "pitting" us against each other. It was only in later years that we realized she had a problem and needed help. Once we started comparing notes the truth came out. In Jan. 2000, Ronnie started having coughing and choking spells which got worst. The doctors at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas gave him antibiotics and said he had a fungus in his lungs and bronchial tubes. He continued to worsen. In March he was admitted to the hospital for surgery to find out what was wrong. From there he went downhill. He was told he had kidney cancer which spread to his lungs and bronchial tubes. Our cousin, Billy George Beal, came up from Houston to visit Ronnie. We left them in the room together to visit and when I went back in they informed me I had a new name. My daddy's sister, Lillie Beal, was called Toad so they decided (I have a feeling it was Billy's idea) that I would be called 'Froggie'. For the rest of the visit that was my name. Ronnie said later he enjoyed Billy's visit more than anyone else's because Billy made him laugh and he forgot about dying for awhile. Ronnie died May 4, 2000 at age 53 and Billy died Dec. 7, 2000 at age 64. Ronnie's wife, Elaine, stayed night and day with him. She gave him so much support and love. My daughter, Stephanie, and I went to see him everyday except for a couple of days that I was sick. We took mom to see him but she didn't make a move to even touch him until the day he died; by then he didn't know she was there. It was so sad. Ronnie's three children visited him once in the hospital and then the girls came up a second time and brought Kimberly's two children. Ronnie had never seen his twin grandaughters and his son, Ronnie Jr., wouldn't take them to see him. There had been very bitter feelings after the divorce of Ronnie and his first wife. Ronnie didn't seem to start growing up until the last year of his life. As a result of things that had occured, Ronnie Jr. didn't want his children to know their grandfather which I know hurt my brother very deeply. Ronnie Jr. couldn't even forgive enough to go to his dad's funeral. Regardless of what took place I know for a fact that Ronnie loved all of his children & grandchildren very deeply. He was always talking about them and was very proud of them. Life has a way of being so cruel.
OBIT --- BRYAN/COLLEGE STATION EAGLE, Texas, May 5, 2000 Services for Ronnie Edward Beal, Sr., 53, of Caldwell are set for 2 pm Sunday at Strickland Funeral Home Chapel in Caldwell. The Rev. Grant Housewright of St. John's Lutheran Church will officiate. Burial will be in Masonic Cemetery in Caldwell. Visitation will be at the funeral home from noon to 6 pm Friday and from 9 am to 8 pm Sat. with the family receiving visitors from 6 to 8 pm Saturday. Mr. Beal died Thursday in Temple. He was born in Pasadena, Texas and was a deputy with the Burleson Co. sheriff's office. He was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Deanville, Texas, the Warren Lodge No. 56 in Caldwell, Austin Scottish Rite, Ben Hur Shrine in Temple, and Loyal Order of Moose. Survivors include his wife, Elaine Beal of Caldwell; one son and daughter-in-law, Ronnie Jr. and Kathie Beal of Trinity; one step-son and step-daughter-in-law, Robert Wayne Manis, Jr. and Lisa Manis of Dickenson, Texas; two daughters and one son-in-law, Kimberly and Jason Johnston of La Porte, Texas and Karen Beal of La Porte; one step-daughter and step-son-in-law, Lisa and Dennis Edwards of Texas city; his mother Fern Beal of Bellmead, Texas, one sister and brother-in-law, Lilly Jean and Walter Engleman of Bellmead; and 14 grandchildren.
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