Rest in Peace, James Beert

Jim and Jorja Beert

Obituary for James J. Beert
Coal Valley, Illinois

James J. Beert, 70, of Coal Valley, Illinois, died Friday, September 26, 2014, at Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House, Bettendorf, Iowa.

Services are 10:00 a.m. Tuesday at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, Coal Valley, with The Reverend Jim DeBisschop officiating. Burial is in Rock Island National Cemetery, where the Moline American Legion Post #246 will present military honors. Visitation is 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Monday at Trimble Funeral Home, Coal Valley, where there will be a Prayer Service at 3:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Robert R. Jones Library in Coal Valley.

James Joseph Beert was born October 27, 1943, in Moline, Illinois, the son of Albert David and Bertha (Wulffaert) Beert. He served in the United States Army, and was stationed in Germany during the Vietnam War. He married Jorja L. Hepner on September 21, 1968, in Moline. 

Jim worked for Coal Valley State Bank, starting in 1971 when it was just a trailer in the corn fields. He worked for the bank for 17 years until it was sold. He then worked as a mail carrier for the Bettendorf Post Office for 16 years, retiring in 2010. After retirement, he enjoyed working part time for Milan Auto Auction. 

He was a member of St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, Coal Valley, was Past-President and served on the board of the Robert R. Jones Library for over 28 years, and had been a member of the Coal Valley Lion’s Club and coached softball for Dad’s Club.

Jim collected 1950’s and 1960’s die cast classic and muscle cars, and memorabilia. He also loved his chow-chow dogs over the years.

He is survived by his wife, Jorja, of Coal Valley; a daughter, Jamie Beert of Salt Lake City, Utah; a son, Jason Beert of Rapid City, South Dakota; grandsons, Logan and Hudson Beert; his mother, Bertha Beert of East Moline, Illinois; a son-in-law, Brad Garrison of Salt Lake City; one nephew; and five nieces including Amy Beert of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who donated a kidney to Jim in 2007. He was preceded in death by his father, and brothers, Ronald and Gerald Beert.

Visit Jim’s personal tribute page at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com to share stories and condolences, and light a free candle in his memory.

Honored for his service to the library.

Forty-seven years of marriage.

MHS 68 Mini-Reunion Party - This Saturday, September 27th.

Recent MHS66 Golfers

MHS66 golfers - Serandos, Osborne, Gramkow, Boxman, Cosner, and Heald

Film TV Star Attends MHS 50th Reunion

Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2014, 11:23 pm

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By Jonathan Turner, jturner@qconline.com

Film and TV actor John Getz has a 40-year acting resume, but he never forgets his roots. The 67-year-old Moline High School alum attended his 50th class reunion last weekend. "It was great, great to see a lot of people," Mr. Getz said by phone Monday, adding that he still has relatives in the Quad-Cities. The last reunion he attended was his 25th, and the last time he was in the Quad-Cities was in early 2012, for the funeral of his late uncle, Tom Getz, former owner of Moline Forge and a community volunteer. "I just thought it would be interesting to see people again," Mr. Getz said. "It was an excuse to come back and see Moline, the river and everything, to wander around town, drink it all in. I miss the place. I had a good time growing up there. I like to taste it every once in a while." The son of William and Kaye Getz, Mr. Getz's father was president of Williams White & Co. In high school, Mr. Getz was on the swim team, and didn't have a lot of time for theater, but emceed his senior year variety show. He went to the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., where he did some acting. "I had a great English teacher there who was a Shakespeare fanatic. He just encouraged me," Mr. Getz said. He graduated from the University of Iowa and studied at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, later appearing on Broadway in "M. Butterfly" and "They're Playing Our Song." While known mainly for an extensive list of TV and film credits, Mr. Getz said he loves theater and wants to do more. "It's a delightful challenge to get in front of an audience every night, the gymnastics you get to do with other people." Mr. Getz's film roles include the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple," "The Fly," "The Fly II," "Born on the Fourth of July," "Curly Sue," and "Zodiac." In 2010, he portrayed the attorney to Mark Zuckerberg's character in the Oscar-winning film "The Social Network." He played the adoptive father of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the 2013 biopic "Jobs." "We shot in the house Steve Jobs lived in, in Los Gatos (Calif.), where he built the first (Apple) machine in the garage," Mr. Getz said. His TV roles include "NCIS," "The Ghost Whisperer," "Criminal Minds," "Mad Men," "How I Met Your Mother," and in the past year alone "Bones," "Castle," "CSI," and the AMC series "Halt and Catch Fire." Mr. Getz filmed one episode for new ABC legal thriller, "How to Get Away With Murder" from Shonda Rhimes, creator of "Scandal" and "Grey's Anatomy." Now he's appeared in all of her shows, including "Private Practice." "She just throws together good pot-boilers," he said. "She gets a lot going on, with interesting actors." In Mr. Getz's latest film, "Trumbo," which he'll shoot in October in New Orleans, he plays a director in the McCarthy-era biopic of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. It will co-star Louis C.K., Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren and John Goodman.

Happy 87th Birthday to Lawrence Eyre's Mother - Colly

This is one of those priceless family photos,
Lawrence and his mother.
Salem honored her seven years ago for turning 80.

Off to the Flood - 1965

Check out today's Moline Dispatch!!! Page B3. Great shot titled "Flood of 1965." A bunch of fellows catching a ride from the Moline Water Works. You can clearly see John Delarosa, Don, Ackley, Jim Haney, Gary Allen, John Danner,Maybe Tim Cook, Duddly Blunt and Guy Dyer. There's a few I don't recognize. What a great photo!

Thank you Guy Johnson, for finding and posting this.

Gary Allen sees - Gary Allen I see...... Larry DeClerck, Malcolm Tribble,(hidden behind Larry),Bill Sheets, Bill Briesch, Jerry Gerard, ??(squeezed in the middle) Tom Westcott, ???, Jim Haney, Greg White, Don Ackley, Dave Rowell, and Gary Allen.