Mary Ruth Tyler Beaman

Wife of Foreign Service Officer Chester E. Beaman

Mary Ruth Tyler Beaman, 96, died peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, November 24, 2011, at Paul Spring Retirement Community in Alexandria, Va.

Daughter of Spencer and Mary Tyler, Mary Ruth was born at home on September 26, 1915 in Missouri, where she spent her youth and graduated from Lindenwood University in 1937. From 1937 to 1942 she worked with the American Red Cross Disaster Relief (Mississippi River Flood of 1936) and World War I Veterans’ Department. In 1942 she attended a Senior Clerk school of men in training for personnel administration work at Army Ordnance Installations. She worked at several ordnance plants where she helped establish and ultimately dismantle the sites. In the spring of 1945 she became the first American woman civilian to be sent to Europe to help administer the personnel program of the Occupation Forces. She helped design the modified WAC uniform to be worn by all civilian women employees, and modeled it before General Eisenhower in his Pentagon office. In the summer of 1945, she was transferred to Frankfurt, Germany. She helped process workers for the Manhattan Project.

She was in Paris on May 8, 1945 when WWII ended. She celebrated with unchilled champagne and C rations, and from her office watched as planes flew low down the Champs-Elysées. In the spring of 1946 she returned to the States to do recruiting for US personnel to serve in Europe. Her office was in the Pentagon where she selected Chester Beaman to head the wage classification program in Europe. Their one date led to an intense international correspondence since she soon returned to the USA. His written proposal of marriage prompted her Western Union reply, “Read Ruth 1:16.” Their wedding took place November 8, 1947 in St. Louis. After attending the American Institute of Foreign Trade, Chester joined the State Department in 1949. Ultimately they returned to Europe and during his career were posted to Germany, England, Wales, USA, Lebanon, Egypt, Philippines, Syria, and Malta. In 1970 they made Alexandria their home, although Chester continued working abroad, in all, a total of 125 countries. The marriage prospered for nearly 60 years until Chester’s death on May 3, 2007.

Mary was shamelessly enamored with her family – son Bruce (Cindy), grandsons Matthew & Michael, daughter Anina (George), granddaughters Kayla (David), Bonny (Troy), Mary (Adam), Belinda and Emily and two great grandsons, Cameron and Aden.

Burial arrangements under the direction of Mount Comfort Cemetery.