Ida Frances Besmer

Ida Frances (Deuerling) Besmer, 90 years old, died peacefully at the home of her daughter, Felicya, in Bartlett, Tennessee on Monday, April 21, 2014 surrounded by her loving family. Mrs. Besmer has been a long time resident of Memphis and a member of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Frayser in the past. She now attends the Catholic Church of the Nativity in Bartlett, TN. Frances was born in Brinkley, Arkansas on August 30, 1923 to John Christian and Paulena (Wiesle) Deuerling. She was a second generation American. Mrs. Besmer moved to Memphis with her parents when she was about 13 years old. She attended St. Agnes Academy for Girls and graduated from Catholic High School in 1941. She married her husband, Walter Harold (Harry) Besmer, January 21, 1945 and worked in a factory building war materials during World War II. She was a homemaker and worked outside the home part time. Alongside her husband she raised a garden, canned fruits and vegetables, raised her family and babysat her grandchildren. During her retirement, she had many hobbies. She made ceramics, crocheted, quilted, and beaded jewelry. She loved flowers and house plants, many of which she shared with her children, neighbors, and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, her three brothers and their wives, Andrew (Mary Stevens), Herman (Margaret Faye Russell) and Karl (Mary DeClue), her husband of 30 years, and a grandson, Jeffrey Allen Wells. She leaves three daughters, Felicya Barrett-Parsels, Pauline Rector (Frank), Harriet Wells (Terry), and son, Christian (Chris) Besmer, four grandchildren, Richard (Jane Day) Barrett, Felicya (Jeffery) Horton, Frank Rector, and Howard (Ziba Amiri) Rector, and ten great-grandchildren, Brandy Day-Lindsey (Jonathan), Kelsi Barrett, Madeline Rector, Megan Rector, Julian Rector, Karley Horton, Elise Horton, Luke Horton, Cyrus Rector and Farrah Rector and one great-great granddaughter, Arianna Rose Lindsey. The family will receive friends from 5:00 until 7:00 pm, with the rosary to be said at 6:00 pm, Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at Memphis Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens, 3700 N. Germantown Road, Bartlett, TN. A Catholic Funeral Mass will be offered at 11:00 am, Thursday, April 24, 2014 at the Church of the Nativity, 5955 St. Elmo, Bartlett, TN 38135 with the interment to follow at National Cemetery, 3568 Townes Avenue, Memphis, TN 38122. The family asks, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38015 or to the charity of your choice.