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Show years, because of health problems, they moved to Provo, Utah. It was there that George died, followed in a few years by Marie's death in January 1991. ... Unknown REID BECK Reid Beck was born May 16, 1887, in Spring City, Sanpete County, Utah. He attended, and graduated from, grade school and high school in Spring City. After finishing school in Spring City he went to Ephraim, Utah, and took a Normal Course at Snow Academy. From here he went to Provo, Utah, and attended Brigham Young University where he graduated from the Normal Course in the spring of 1908. In September, 1908, he entered the teaching profession and for the next three years served as a teacher in the public schools of Provo. In the fall of 1912 he was appointed principal of the Maeser School in that city. By attending summer sessions and taking extension courses, through the years he earned sufficient college credits to graduate from Brigham Young University in 1929 with a Bachelors degree. He later took enough courses to complete everything required for the Master's degree, except the thesis which he was working on at the time of his death. During the early summer of 1917 with World War I in progress, Reid had a visit to his schoolroom from Mr. J. R. Allen, a school board member from the Jordan School District in south Salt Lake County. Mr. Allen visited his school three times; and; · offeted Reid the position of principal of the Draper Park School. Reid refused the offer, saying he was satisfied with the position he then held. Besides a raise in salary, Mr. Allen offered him the privilege of bringing with him eight teachers, six selected from the Provo public schools. He accepted the position. The teachers he took were: E. R. Beck, (a brother who later became the penmanship supervisor of Jordan School District), Freda Jensen, and her sister Edna. He also brought Willda Maycock, (who later became his second wife), her sister Ella Maycock, Elma Haymond, Lida Hermer, Ruth Lindsey, Margurite Williams, and Albert Southwick. Some of them taught elsewhere in the district. A new principal and all but two of his faculty literally descended upon the little community of Draper determined to build a school which would be a credit to them all. That same kind of cooperation between teachers and students, teachers and principal, and between principal and students, existed as long as Reid Beck was principal at Draper. Reid treated a child as an equal and in becoming acquainted he would say, in a pleasant voice, "My name is Reid Beck, will you tell me your name?" When something came up missing in the school, it took only a short time for Mr. Beck to find the guilty party and administer fair punishment. Many people came to him for counsel and he had many friends. He loved children; in fact, he loved people of all ages. He knew the name and face of every child in his school and community. He taught some of the children, their parents, and grandparents. He knew the problems of the farmer, the dairyman, the sheepman, and the poultryman because he had been all of them. He knew suffering and loss, for he suffered much and lost much both materially and personally. He always had "the common touch". His principalship and his influence in the lives of those who knew him can be favorably compared to that of John Rooky Park; the man who made Draper famous. |