Homer Ray Beem

Homer Ray Beem, age 63 years old, of Knox, passed away Tuesday morning, January 28th, 2025. Homer was a miracle baby born on September 16th, 1961 weighing less than four pounds and the youngest of (five siblings.) one older sister, Glenda, and three increasingly rambunctious brothers, Delbert "Pete", Earl, and Jay. He was the youngest child of Delbert Beem and Ellen Barnett Beem and embodied the runt of the family. He is preceded in death by his parents and siblings and is survived by his wife, Anna Land Beem, and his children, Randi Ellen Beem of Charlotte, NC, and Sinjin Pete Beem of Hove, England. 

Given the nickname of Lil' Homer, since he was named after his uncle Homer, he was a little boy who was never without a prank, laugh, or lesson for his parents. This can be seen in his ability to teach himself to catch left-handed while in Little League so his parents would be forced to buy him a new mitt rather than the hand-me down mitt he would have inherited from his older brothers. While he was the baby of the family, he received thoughtful discipline from his mother, Ellen, who once pulled the rug, literally, out from under him when he yelled at her to wash her own dishes during Price is Right. In many ways, his childhood reflected that of one of his favorite TV shows, "Malcolm in the Middle", which he played on repeat when it hit streaming. As the last sibling to make it to the other side, we hope that Delbert, Ellen, and their five kids are back to the usual laughs and shenanigans they all had for each other. 

In 1978, Homer met his future wife, Anna Land, in gym class at Knox High School. Being a consistent teaser, he started calling her "spider legs" due to her height. Not long after graduation, Homer met back up with Anna again and began dating her during her senior year at Knox High School. The relationship was built on friendship which can be seen from their late night calls with Anna sneaking to her parents' kitchen at night to call him during his breaks at Alexander Chemical Corporation. Being the ever practical Homer, he proposed to Anna after her graduation party in May 1980 and from there decided on a wedding date of August 1st, 1980. However, Homer was informed by his supervisor at Alexander Chemical Corporation that August 1st was a Friday so he had to be at work. The constant planner, Homer promptly announced to Anna that they would get married on August 2nd since it was a Saturday. Homer and Anna could always be found at their kitchen table in the morning talking constantly or after Homer returned from work in the afternoon. Their love was the touchstone of their children's lives along with the constant laughs and jokes that were shared. 

Lasting almost as long as his marriage to Anna, Homer spent over forty years working at Alexander Chemical Corporation in Kingsford Heights, Indiana where he started as a laborer, rising to HCL foreman, and finishing in cylinder repair. Homer believed and instilled in his children the concept that if you were the best at your job, you could generate chaos and jokes. One particular time that Randi remembers from her childhood is when she was brought to the Plant at three years old in an attempt to prove to Homer's coworkers that even a preschooler could do their job as long as they paid attention. This OSHA violation was overlooked, which was most likely due to him being the best at his job. Homer started in 1979 when he graduated from Knox High School and he retired last February. A steadfast Teamster and lover of walks, he consistently voted to strike to both prove a point and engage in thoughtful collective bargaining outside. 

As a father, Homer took on the lessons of his own dad, Delbert, by teaching his children strange recipes and the knowledge that life was full of disappointment. He accomplished the latter by raising his two children as Chicago Cubs fans. Along with the example set by his own father, Homer embodied the lessons of Richard Williams and Earl Woods by his constant focus and guidance to Randi's tennis and golf skills. Just last summer, he took Randi to the golf course three times with such great pointers as watching the break on the green, just keep hitting your five wood, and you're not hitting it off the tee you are actually attempting a putt so you have to slow down. The constant athlete, his favorite hobbies included golfing, fishing, walking, and hunting. One of Randi's greatest achievements was beating him in pickleball this summer and it is one she will never forget. 

Just like his ability to find a stray Titleist on a golf course, Homer loved to find an opinion. An avid banjo player and lover of music, he had strongly held opinions on musical artists from Mumford and Sons to Flatts and Scruggs. His favorite musician was Earl Scruggs and when visiting Randi in Charlotte five years ago, he had Anna and Randi accompany him to the Earl Scruggs Center in Cleveland County. The only person at the museum who was more fascinated than Homer was a second grader who had never seen a banjo. This visit to the Earl Scruggs Center was the highlight of his trip beside the corndogs that he received from Cookout, a fast food chain in the Southeast. 

While Homer experienced a battle with cancer and heart disease, he never lost his ability to laugh and goof around, including tricking the nurses at Elkhart Memorial to give him more Starry sodas than he should have had. The loss of Homer is overwhelming and his family and friends are left in shock by his sudden passing. This shock comes from the fact that we all had so much more love and laughs to share with him, but we hope that when you think of him you treat yourself to one of his two favorite things, a scratch-off or a corndog. 

Services and the funeral will be held at Braman and Sons, Knox, IN with visitation occurring Sunday night, February 2nd from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with the funeral service at 11 a.m., Monday, February 3rd.  He will be interred at Eagle Creek Cemetery in Washington Township, Knox, Indiana. 

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