Christine "Violet" Beims

Christine “Violet” Mellick Beims, 98, of Atwood, died May 15, 2016 at the Good Samaritan Center, Atwood, Kansas. Violet was born to E. C. and Tiny V. Mellick on October 10, 1917. She was baptized in the Methodist Church in Atwood, KS. She married Ramie E. Beims on January 3, 1940, and to this union was born 3 daughters and 2 sons.

Violet spent most of her life in Atwood. She attended Atwood schools, graduating from Rawlins County Community High School in 1935. She attended one year of college at Kansas State University and one year at Kansas University before returning to teach at a rural school in Rawlins County. Later she taught at Atwood Grade School and started the art program there.

Violet was a golfer and a bowler; a swimmer, a lifeguard, a swim teacher, and a life-long sports fan and Atwood Buffalo supporter. She was a school teacher and a teacher of many skills. She was a singer, a choir director, and a supporter of musicians and music programs. She was an artist, particularly in watercolor, a bird watcher and a gardener. She was involved with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and the Blood mobile – as both a volunteer and a donor. She worked on the election board for decades. She served on the Rawlins County Hospital board, the Hospital Foundation, the Library board (helping to found the lending library in Kansas), the Housing Board, and the board at the Senior Center. She was a Grand Chapter Page in Eastern Star, part of Rebekah Lodge, a member of Atwood Women’s Club, the United Methodist Women’s Mission Team, and the Union Club.

Violet was a daughter, a niece, a sister, an in-law, an aunt, a wife, a mother (and grandmother, and great grandmother), and she was a widow for 22 years. She was a collaborator and a friend and a devoted member of the Atwood United Methodist Church.

Her motto: See if you can, by the grace of God, leave your small corner of the world a little better than you found it. That she certainly did.

Violet was preceded in death by her husband Ramie; her son-in-law Ambrose Mallett; her daughter Rama Kay Mallett and son Michael J. Beims.

She is survived by her daughters Patricia J. Trommeter and husband Ed, of Trinidad, CO and Chris Kliesen Wehrman and husband David Nyberg, of St. Louis Park, MN; her son Bob and wife Kay, of Austin, TX; her daughter-in-law Nancy Beims, of Denver, CO; grandsons, Eric Beims, of Denver, CO, Matthew Beims and wife Andrea, of Fort Worth, TX; granddaughters, Kari Hughey and husband Jordan, of Dallas, TX and Bailey Wehrman, of St. Louis Park, MN; five nephews; three nieces; three great-grandsons; four great-granddaughters and countless relatives and friends.

A Celebration of Life was held at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, May 22, 2016 at the United Methodist Church, in Atwood. The family suggests memorials to the Atwood United Methodist Church, Rawlins County Health Center, or any of the many organizations of which she was a part, in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. Condolences or information: www.baalmannmortuary.com