Jim Beers (James Albert), 82 year old Thomas, Oklahoma and former Shattuck, Oklahoma resident was born April 1, 1936 in Putnam, Oklahoma during the Great Depression to Clyde Jack Beers and Lowa Atholia (Thompson) Beers. He went to be with Jesus and Sonja on Saturday, November 24, 2018, just 23 days after their wedding anniversary of 61 years.
Jim was known around Putnam as JA but when he met Sonja, he introduced himself as Jim so that’s what she and everyone else called him. He will forever be known as Coach Beers or Mr. Beers by his students from Arnett and Shattuck. Mr. Beers grew up on our farm east of Putnam and led a very active life, helping on the farm in every aspect. When he was “a little guy” as he put it, he helped his Momma while she made quilts. His job was to crawl on the tops of the quilt and cut the stray threads for her. He always went by the Farmers Almanac for everything and told how his Dad and the area neighbors would get together to butcher animals and divide up the meat for the coming winter. Mr. Beers did not like that part of the farm life because of his tender heart and he always avoided this activity.
Mr. Beers rode the bus to school after chores and breakfast. Atholia rode the bus with the kids and got off in town to sell the eggs and buy groceries. While the kids were in school, Atholia walked nearly two miles to go take care of her parents by doing their cooking and cleaning and did the same for Jack’s parents as both sets of parents were neighbors. Then she walked back and rode the school bus home with the kids. He often spoke of the times that his Dad couldn’t sleep and would go out in the middle of the night and plow or sew wheat. Mr. Beers would also carry on this tradition.
Mr. Beers loved to sit by his Momma while she played the piano and he sang all of the old hymns that she taught him.
Before Mr. Beers was a teenager, his Dad, Jack (of all trades), taught him how to lay brick and they built houses and many gymnasiums together as well as bricked courthouses. They bricked the hotels in Waynoka, many houses in Seiling, the Piedmont and Sayre gyms and many others. One Putnam resident, Mr. Roy Jones, told me that if you got Jack Beers and Jim to complete a bricking job for you then you were really doing something.
Mr. Beers excelled athletically while in school. He possessed great athleticism and his athletic feats are still talked about amongst people who watched him play. As a basketball player, according to Coach LR Holley, he was a deadly shot from either corner of the bucket. Coach Holley said that it never made any difference how many were guarding Mr. Beers, once he got in the corner, it was a sure two points because that was his sweet spot. He was tough on defense and an excellent rebounder as he could jump several feet in the air.
Jim also played high school baseball and was a left-handed pitcher. He played legion baseball in Clinton and walked to and from his games in Clinton spending the night when he had back to back games in Clinton. He slept in the park under the amphitheatre and spent time studying the sky and finding all of the constellations and knew them all by name. He was always in the Clinton newspaper and his Momma cherished those articles keeping all of them for her scrapbook.
Mr. Beers graduated from Putnam High School in 1956 and attended Oklahoma Baptist University on a full baseball scholarship for two years. Mr. Beers was the starting pitcher as a freshmen. I remember reading in one of his OBU annuals where he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in his dorm room with several other baseball players present. Mr. Beers became a student of the Bible and would share Jesus with whoever he came into contact with.
Mr. Beers then transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma on a full baseball scholarship. Again, he was the starting pitcher for Northwestern. This is where he met the Love of His Life, Sonja Kay Scott Beers. He met Sonja at Pamburns Cafe after being introduced by a mutual friend. Jim decided to ask Sonja for a date. As he was approaching her dormitory, he saw Sonja in an upstairs window ironing her clothes for the next day. Jim hollered at Sonja through the dorm window and here came the dorm mother chewing Jim out for asking her for a date through the window. Jim said: yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am while walking into the front of the dormitory as he saw Sonja bounding down the steps to meet him. That night he took her to eat and then to the show. After their first date, Jim asked Sonja to go on more dates. Sonja accepted but noticed that sometimes he was running a little late. She noticed that she could look across campus and see from her second floor into Vinson Hall second floor where Jim lived, and could see that he was playing cards. Jim was using his winnings from playing cards so they could go on a date. He was usually about 15 minutes late. Needless to say, Jim could win just about any hand of pitch, poker, or whatever card game he played.
Jim played semi-pro baseball for the VFW. Since he played for the VFW, he was also able to work for the VFW as a doorman. After Jim and Sonja figured out that they had enough money to pool together to live on their own so on November 1, 1957, Jim and Sonja were married in the First Baptist Church in Alva, Oklahoma. They rented the second floor of a three story house for $35/month with the bills paid. Sonja’s parents and sister, Janis, loved Jim with all their hearts. He fit in perfectly with their family and Sonja’s Mom called Jim, “The Bread of Life”. When Janis met and married Sam, they were the perfect couples together. Jim went fishing with Sonja’s Dad, Scotty, and oftentimes fished in the pond of Donna Story Toellner’s Dad.
Jim graduated from college in 1960 and accepted employment at Arnett Public Schools as the coach of everything except the girls softball team. He also taught biology, 8th grade science and drivers education. Sonja graduated in 1961 from college and also accepted employment at Arnett teaching business, home economics and 7th grade language arts. If there was a bus moving for an activity, Jim and Sonja were on it. They sponsored many junior and senior classes. Sonja always kept books for Jim’s basketball and baseball games and enjoyed doing that. Through their years at Arnett, they developed a love for their students that passes all understanding since there was little age difference.
In 1966, Sonja and Jim moved to Shattuck before the birth of their daughter, Belinda Elizabeth Beers. Jim taught science and biology and became the elementary principal. Their son, Brandin Scott Beers was born in 1970. Sonja was an excellent mother and wife according to Jim. They provided a Christian home environment giving a great Biblical foundation in which inspires them to take leadership roles in their respective communities.
As a principal, Mr. Beers often felt like talking to and listening to his students while being just and fair as this was exactly what his students needed. He thought that each student should know that they are an important person, had a great contribution to life, and that he loved them and believed in them. His kind and gentle ways with the kids along with his showing the respect and honor that they deserved, won the heart of each of his students. He truly was the Dad of the school and always modelled excellent behavior because he wanted to be a good example of what he expected of his students. He always told us that we were living in a glass fish bowl, that every decision that we make now sets a pattern for the rest of our lives, don’t ever get yourself into a situation that you can’t get out of, and if you ever have a problem, to come to him and Sonja because they will always support and help us.
When he first became principal, his faculty was composed of teachers who had a great wealth of knowledge and experience of several hundreds of years. He drew on their experiences and was a true leader recognizing that he could learn from them and that they had much to offer to him as well. He always talked about how each of these teachers could have any student, at any level, reading from the readers. At that time, his teachers did not have a textbook to teach reading and they didn’t need one. Their textbook was in their minds. They each had their own methods and Mr. Beers could recall each of their methods and marvelled at how their formulas should have been written into their very own textbooks “because what we have now isn’t worth a darn anymore like what our teachers taught. They had it all figured out and remediated each student.”
Mr. Beers took many leadership roles at the First Christian Church. He served as a deacon, taught Sunday School, and was the Sunday School Superintendent. He took much time and effort in preparing for each of his roles.
As Sonja’s sister and brother-in-law, Janis and Sam Wooten had a precious son, Rhett, the family continued to have family meals together and celebrated all holidays. Rhett, Brandin and Belinda were raised as siblings rather than cousins and were very close. Many trips were made to visit the Wooten family as they moved throughout the country and abroad including two trips to Europe which were highlights for the families and strengthened their bonds with each other.
While at Shattuck, Mr. Beers coached junior high school and high school boys basketball, assisted Coach Holley in junior high and high school girls basketball, he coached elementary football and basketball, and coached elementary and junior high track. He also bricked the concession stands and restrooms at the football field and baseball field as well as bricked up each plate glass window at the elementary school for the safety of the students, drove school buses, ran the clock and books at basketball games, ran the chains at football games, kept football stats in the pressbox, and many other things without receiving monetary compensation for it because Mr. Chaffin had asked him to do it and because he did it for the best interest of each of the students.
The highlights of Jim’s life while Brandin and Belinda were in school were watching their athleticism in football, basketball, baseball, and softball games and track meets and powerlifting in high school. Jim also drove the kids to Woodward where they ran track on the Woodward teams. Jim and Sonja never missed a game or activity. They also loved to listen to their vocal music and band performances conducted under Miss Jan Smith and Mr. James Rogers. Mr. Beers always marveled at how these two could always get a professional sound from a group of 7th-12th graders and win every competition.
The family spent all Saturdays at Milam Stadium in Weatherford watching Brandin play college football during the fall months including a trip to play football in Mexico City.
Retiring in 1994, Jim and Sonja moved to Putnam to be closer to the farm. They welcomed their beautiful daughter-in-law into their family when Brandin married Ellen (Case) Beers in Hobart, Oklahoma on July 1, 1995.
Another blessing was when their first grandson, Dylan Scott Beers was born on September 8, 2000 and their second grandson, Braden Thomas Beers was born on January 21, 2004. After that, all conversations and activities revolved around “The Boys” and when can we see them next. Jim loved watching each of the boys play football, basketball, baseball, and watched their wrestling events. The highlights of football season would be when Belinda would drive to Thomas to pick him up and they would drive to each football game to watch the boys play and to also watch Brandin coach. These events each week were special times for the family to be together and for Jim and Belinda to spend their special time with each other conversing.
Mr. Beers, always demonstrated the kind of love, devotion, and respect that a husband should have for his wife and stood with her in support of her especially during the last 3 years of her life. He spent anywhere from 8-10 hours each day at Grace Living Center with Sonja tending to her every need. Grace Living became extended family to Jim and Belinda.
Jim was preceded in death by his twin sisters, Clidean and Clodean, his parents, Jack and Atholia Beers, and sisters Darlene and Zelma. He is survived by his loving and devoted daughter and best friend, Belinda Beers, of Sharon, Oklahoma, his wonderful son and best friend, Brandin Beers and wife Ellen of Edmond, Oklahoma, his two precious grandsons, Dylan and Braden Beers of Edmond, Oklahoma, brother and sister in law, Sam and Janis Wooten of Carmen, Oklahoma, nephew and his wife, Rhett and Kendi Wooten, and great nephew, Jackson Wooten, all of Carmen, Oklahoma.
Shaw Funeral Home, Shattuck, Ok.
Jim was known around Putnam as JA but when he met Sonja, he introduced himself as Jim so that’s what she and everyone else called him. He will forever be known as Coach Beers or Mr. Beers by his students from Arnett and Shattuck. Mr. Beers grew up on our farm east of Putnam and led a very active life, helping on the farm in every aspect. When he was “a little guy” as he put it, he helped his Momma while she made quilts. His job was to crawl on the tops of the quilt and cut the stray threads for her. He always went by the Farmers Almanac for everything and told how his Dad and the area neighbors would get together to butcher animals and divide up the meat for the coming winter. Mr. Beers did not like that part of the farm life because of his tender heart and he always avoided this activity.
Mr. Beers rode the bus to school after chores and breakfast. Atholia rode the bus with the kids and got off in town to sell the eggs and buy groceries. While the kids were in school, Atholia walked nearly two miles to go take care of her parents by doing their cooking and cleaning and did the same for Jack’s parents as both sets of parents were neighbors. Then she walked back and rode the school bus home with the kids. He often spoke of the times that his Dad couldn’t sleep and would go out in the middle of the night and plow or sew wheat. Mr. Beers would also carry on this tradition.
Mr. Beers loved to sit by his Momma while she played the piano and he sang all of the old hymns that she taught him.
Before Mr. Beers was a teenager, his Dad, Jack (of all trades), taught him how to lay brick and they built houses and many gymnasiums together as well as bricked courthouses. They bricked the hotels in Waynoka, many houses in Seiling, the Piedmont and Sayre gyms and many others. One Putnam resident, Mr. Roy Jones, told me that if you got Jack Beers and Jim to complete a bricking job for you then you were really doing something.
Mr. Beers excelled athletically while in school. He possessed great athleticism and his athletic feats are still talked about amongst people who watched him play. As a basketball player, according to Coach LR Holley, he was a deadly shot from either corner of the bucket. Coach Holley said that it never made any difference how many were guarding Mr. Beers, once he got in the corner, it was a sure two points because that was his sweet spot. He was tough on defense and an excellent rebounder as he could jump several feet in the air.
Jim also played high school baseball and was a left-handed pitcher. He played legion baseball in Clinton and walked to and from his games in Clinton spending the night when he had back to back games in Clinton. He slept in the park under the amphitheatre and spent time studying the sky and finding all of the constellations and knew them all by name. He was always in the Clinton newspaper and his Momma cherished those articles keeping all of them for her scrapbook.
Mr. Beers graduated from Putnam High School in 1956 and attended Oklahoma Baptist University on a full baseball scholarship for two years. Mr. Beers was the starting pitcher as a freshmen. I remember reading in one of his OBU annuals where he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in his dorm room with several other baseball players present. Mr. Beers became a student of the Bible and would share Jesus with whoever he came into contact with.
Mr. Beers then transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma on a full baseball scholarship. Again, he was the starting pitcher for Northwestern. This is where he met the Love of His Life, Sonja Kay Scott Beers. He met Sonja at Pamburns Cafe after being introduced by a mutual friend. Jim decided to ask Sonja for a date. As he was approaching her dormitory, he saw Sonja in an upstairs window ironing her clothes for the next day. Jim hollered at Sonja through the dorm window and here came the dorm mother chewing Jim out for asking her for a date through the window. Jim said: yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am while walking into the front of the dormitory as he saw Sonja bounding down the steps to meet him. That night he took her to eat and then to the show. After their first date, Jim asked Sonja to go on more dates. Sonja accepted but noticed that sometimes he was running a little late. She noticed that she could look across campus and see from her second floor into Vinson Hall second floor where Jim lived, and could see that he was playing cards. Jim was using his winnings from playing cards so they could go on a date. He was usually about 15 minutes late. Needless to say, Jim could win just about any hand of pitch, poker, or whatever card game he played.
Jim played semi-pro baseball for the VFW. Since he played for the VFW, he was also able to work for the VFW as a doorman. After Jim and Sonja figured out that they had enough money to pool together to live on their own so on November 1, 1957, Jim and Sonja were married in the First Baptist Church in Alva, Oklahoma. They rented the second floor of a three story house for $35/month with the bills paid. Sonja’s parents and sister, Janis, loved Jim with all their hearts. He fit in perfectly with their family and Sonja’s Mom called Jim, “The Bread of Life”. When Janis met and married Sam, they were the perfect couples together. Jim went fishing with Sonja’s Dad, Scotty, and oftentimes fished in the pond of Donna Story Toellner’s Dad.
Jim graduated from college in 1960 and accepted employment at Arnett Public Schools as the coach of everything except the girls softball team. He also taught biology, 8th grade science and drivers education. Sonja graduated in 1961 from college and also accepted employment at Arnett teaching business, home economics and 7th grade language arts. If there was a bus moving for an activity, Jim and Sonja were on it. They sponsored many junior and senior classes. Sonja always kept books for Jim’s basketball and baseball games and enjoyed doing that. Through their years at Arnett, they developed a love for their students that passes all understanding since there was little age difference.
In 1966, Sonja and Jim moved to Shattuck before the birth of their daughter, Belinda Elizabeth Beers. Jim taught science and biology and became the elementary principal. Their son, Brandin Scott Beers was born in 1970. Sonja was an excellent mother and wife according to Jim. They provided a Christian home environment giving a great Biblical foundation in which inspires them to take leadership roles in their respective communities.
As a principal, Mr. Beers often felt like talking to and listening to his students while being just and fair as this was exactly what his students needed. He thought that each student should know that they are an important person, had a great contribution to life, and that he loved them and believed in them. His kind and gentle ways with the kids along with his showing the respect and honor that they deserved, won the heart of each of his students. He truly was the Dad of the school and always modelled excellent behavior because he wanted to be a good example of what he expected of his students. He always told us that we were living in a glass fish bowl, that every decision that we make now sets a pattern for the rest of our lives, don’t ever get yourself into a situation that you can’t get out of, and if you ever have a problem, to come to him and Sonja because they will always support and help us.
When he first became principal, his faculty was composed of teachers who had a great wealth of knowledge and experience of several hundreds of years. He drew on their experiences and was a true leader recognizing that he could learn from them and that they had much to offer to him as well. He always talked about how each of these teachers could have any student, at any level, reading from the readers. At that time, his teachers did not have a textbook to teach reading and they didn’t need one. Their textbook was in their minds. They each had their own methods and Mr. Beers could recall each of their methods and marvelled at how their formulas should have been written into their very own textbooks “because what we have now isn’t worth a darn anymore like what our teachers taught. They had it all figured out and remediated each student.”
Mr. Beers took many leadership roles at the First Christian Church. He served as a deacon, taught Sunday School, and was the Sunday School Superintendent. He took much time and effort in preparing for each of his roles.
As Sonja’s sister and brother-in-law, Janis and Sam Wooten had a precious son, Rhett, the family continued to have family meals together and celebrated all holidays. Rhett, Brandin and Belinda were raised as siblings rather than cousins and were very close. Many trips were made to visit the Wooten family as they moved throughout the country and abroad including two trips to Europe which were highlights for the families and strengthened their bonds with each other.
While at Shattuck, Mr. Beers coached junior high school and high school boys basketball, assisted Coach Holley in junior high and high school girls basketball, he coached elementary football and basketball, and coached elementary and junior high track. He also bricked the concession stands and restrooms at the football field and baseball field as well as bricked up each plate glass window at the elementary school for the safety of the students, drove school buses, ran the clock and books at basketball games, ran the chains at football games, kept football stats in the pressbox, and many other things without receiving monetary compensation for it because Mr. Chaffin had asked him to do it and because he did it for the best interest of each of the students.
The highlights of Jim’s life while Brandin and Belinda were in school were watching their athleticism in football, basketball, baseball, and softball games and track meets and powerlifting in high school. Jim also drove the kids to Woodward where they ran track on the Woodward teams. Jim and Sonja never missed a game or activity. They also loved to listen to their vocal music and band performances conducted under Miss Jan Smith and Mr. James Rogers. Mr. Beers always marveled at how these two could always get a professional sound from a group of 7th-12th graders and win every competition.
The family spent all Saturdays at Milam Stadium in Weatherford watching Brandin play college football during the fall months including a trip to play football in Mexico City.
Retiring in 1994, Jim and Sonja moved to Putnam to be closer to the farm. They welcomed their beautiful daughter-in-law into their family when Brandin married Ellen (Case) Beers in Hobart, Oklahoma on July 1, 1995.
Another blessing was when their first grandson, Dylan Scott Beers was born on September 8, 2000 and their second grandson, Braden Thomas Beers was born on January 21, 2004. After that, all conversations and activities revolved around “The Boys” and when can we see them next. Jim loved watching each of the boys play football, basketball, baseball, and watched their wrestling events. The highlights of football season would be when Belinda would drive to Thomas to pick him up and they would drive to each football game to watch the boys play and to also watch Brandin coach. These events each week were special times for the family to be together and for Jim and Belinda to spend their special time with each other conversing.
Mr. Beers, always demonstrated the kind of love, devotion, and respect that a husband should have for his wife and stood with her in support of her especially during the last 3 years of her life. He spent anywhere from 8-10 hours each day at Grace Living Center with Sonja tending to her every need. Grace Living became extended family to Jim and Belinda.
Jim was preceded in death by his twin sisters, Clidean and Clodean, his parents, Jack and Atholia Beers, and sisters Darlene and Zelma. He is survived by his loving and devoted daughter and best friend, Belinda Beers, of Sharon, Oklahoma, his wonderful son and best friend, Brandin Beers and wife Ellen of Edmond, Oklahoma, his two precious grandsons, Dylan and Braden Beers of Edmond, Oklahoma, brother and sister in law, Sam and Janis Wooten of Carmen, Oklahoma, nephew and his wife, Rhett and Kendi Wooten, and great nephew, Jackson Wooten, all of Carmen, Oklahoma.
Shaw Funeral Home, Shattuck, Ok.
Jim Beers (James Albert), 82 year old Thomas, Oklahoma and former Shattuck, Oklahoma resident was born April 1, 1936 in Putnam, Oklahoma during the Great Depression to Clyde Jack Beers and Lowa Atholia (Thompson) Beers. He went to be with Jesus and Sonja on Saturday, November 24, 2018, just 23 days after their wedding anniversary of 61 years.
Jim was known around Putnam as JA but when he met Sonja, he introduced himself as Jim so that’s what she and everyone else called him. He will forever be known as Coach Beers or Mr. Beers by his students from Arnett and Shattuck. Mr. Beers grew up on our farm east of Putnam and led a very active life, helping on the farm in every aspect. When he was “a little guy” as he put it, he helped his Momma while she made quilts. His job was to crawl on the tops of the quilt and cut the stray threads for her. He always went by the Farmers Almanac for everything and told how his Dad and the area neighbors would get together to butcher animals and divide up the meat for the coming winter. Mr. Beers did not like that part of the farm life because of his tender heart and he always avoided this activity.
Mr. Beers rode the bus to school after chores and breakfast. Atholia rode the bus with the kids and got off in town to sell the eggs and buy groceries. While the kids were in school, Atholia walked nearly two miles to go take care of her parents by doing their cooking and cleaning and did the same for Jack’s parents as both sets of parents were neighbors. Then she walked back and rode the school bus home with the kids. He often spoke of the times that his Dad couldn’t sleep and would go out in the middle of the night and plow or sew wheat. Mr. Beers would also carry on this tradition.
Mr. Beers loved to sit by his Momma while she played the piano and he sang all of the old hymns that she taught him.
Before Mr. Beers was a teenager, his Dad, Jack (of all trades), taught him how to lay brick and they built houses and many gymnasiums together as well as bricked courthouses. They bricked the hotels in Waynoka, many houses in Seiling, the Piedmont and Sayre gyms and many others. One Putnam resident, Mr. Roy Jones, told me that if you got Jack Beers and Jim to complete a bricking job for you then you were really doing something.
Mr. Beers excelled athletically while in school. He possessed great athleticism and his athletic feats are still talked about amongst people who watched him play. As a basketball player, according to Coach LR Holley, he was a deadly shot from either corner of the bucket. Coach Holley said that it never made any difference how many were guarding Mr. Beers, once he got in the corner, it was a sure two points because that was his sweet spot. He was tough on defense and an excellent rebounder as he could jump several feet in the air.
Jim also played high school baseball and was a left-handed pitcher. He played legion baseball in Clinton and walked to and from his games in Clinton spending the night when he had back to back games in Clinton. He slept in the park under the amphitheatre and spent time studying the sky and finding all of the constellations and knew them all by name. He was always in the Clinton newspaper and his Momma cherished those articles keeping all of them for her scrapbook.
Mr. Beers graduated from Putnam High School in 1956 and attended Oklahoma Baptist University on a full baseball scholarship for two years. Mr. Beers was the starting pitcher as a freshmen. I remember reading in one of his OBU annuals where he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in his dorm room with several other baseball players present. Mr. Beers became a student of the Bible and would share Jesus with whoever he came into contact with.
Mr. Beers then transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma on a full baseball scholarship. Again, he was the starting pitcher for Northwestern. This is where he met the Love of His Life, Sonja Kay Scott Beers. He met Sonja at Pamburns Cafe after being introduced by a mutual friend. Jim decided to ask Sonja for a date. As he was approaching her dormitory, he saw Sonja in an upstairs window ironing her clothes for the next day. Jim hollered at Sonja through the dorm window and here came the dorm mother chewing Jim out for asking her for a date through the window. Jim said: yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am while walking into the front of the dormitory as he saw Sonja bounding down the steps to meet him. That night he took her to eat and then to the show. After their first date, Jim asked Sonja to go on more dates. Sonja accepted but noticed that sometimes he was running a little late. She noticed that she could look across campus and see from her second floor into Vinson Hall second floor where Jim lived, and could see that he was playing cards. Jim was using his winnings from playing cards so they could go on a date. He was usually about 15 minutes late. Needless to say, Jim could win just about any hand of pitch, poker, or whatever card game he played.
Jim played semi-pro baseball for the VFW. Since he played for the VFW, he was also able to work for the VFW as a doorman. After Jim and Sonja figured out that they had enough money to pool together to live on their own so on November 1, 1957, Jim and Sonja were married in the First Baptist Church in Alva, Oklahoma. They rented the second floor of a three story house for $35/month with the bills paid. Sonja’s parents and sister, Janis, loved Jim with all their hearts. He fit in perfectly with their family and Sonja’s Mom called Jim, “The Bread of Life”. When Janis met and married Sam, they were the perfect couples together. Jim went fishing with Sonja’s Dad, Scotty, and oftentimes fished in the pond of Donna Story Toellner’s Dad.
Jim graduated from college in 1960 and accepted employment at Arnett Public Schools as the coach of everything except the girls softball team. He also taught biology, 8th grade science and drivers education. Sonja graduated in 1961 from college and also accepted employment at Arnett teaching business, home economics and 7th grade language arts. If there was a bus moving for an activity, Jim and Sonja were on it. They sponsored many junior and senior classes. Sonja always kept books for Jim’s basketball and baseball games and enjoyed doing that. Through their years at Arnett, they developed a love for their students that passes all understanding since there was little age difference.
In 1966, Sonja and Jim moved to Shattuck before the birth of their daughter, Belinda Elizabeth Beers. Jim taught science and biology and became the elementary principal. Their son, Brandin Scott Beers was born in 1970. Sonja was an excellent mother and wife according to Jim. They provided a Christian home environment giving a great Biblical foundation in which inspires them to take leadership roles in their respective communities.
As a principal, Mr. Beers often felt like talking to and listening to his students while being just and fair as this was exactly what his students needed. He thought that each student should know that they are an important person, had a great contribution to life, and that he loved them and believed in them. His kind and gentle ways with the kids along with his showing the respect and honor that they deserved, won the heart of each of his students. He truly was the Dad of the school and always modelled excellent behavior because he wanted to be a good example of what he expected of his students. He always told us that we were living in a glass fish bowl, that every decision that we make now sets a pattern for the rest of our lives, don’t ever get yourself into a situation that you can’t get out of, and if you ever have a problem, to come to him and Sonja because they will always support and help us.
When he first became principal, his faculty was composed of teachers who had a great wealth of knowledge and experience of several hundreds of years. He drew on their experiences and was a true leader recognizing that he could learn from them and that they had much to offer to him as well. He always talked about how each of these teachers could have any student, at any level, reading from the readers. At that time, his teachers did not have a textbook to teach reading and they didn’t need one. Their textbook was in their minds. They each had their own methods and Mr. Beers could recall each of their methods and marvelled at how their formulas should have been written into their very own textbooks “because what we have now isn’t worth a darn anymore like what our teachers taught. They had it all figured out and remediated each student.”
Mr. Beers took many leadership roles at the First Christian Church. He served as a deacon, taught Sunday School, and was the Sunday School Superintendent. He took much time and effort in preparing for each of his roles.
As Sonja’s sister and brother-in-law, Janis and Sam Wooten had a precious son, Rhett, the family continued to have family meals together and celebrated all holidays. Rhett, Brandin and Belinda were raised as siblings rather than cousins and were very close. Many trips were made to visit the Wooten family as they moved throughout the country and abroad including two trips to Europe which were highlights for the families and strengthened their bonds with each other.
While at Shattuck, Mr. Beers coached junior high school and high school boys basketball, assisted Coach Holley in junior high and high school girls basketball, he coached elementary football and basketball, and coached elementary and junior high track. He also bricked the concession stands and restrooms at the football field and baseball field as well as bricked up each plate glass window at the elementary school for the safety of the students, drove school buses, ran the clock and books at basketball games, ran the chains at football games, kept football stats in the pressbox, and many other things without receiving monetary compensation for it because Mr. Chaffin had asked him to do it and because he did it for the best interest of each of the students.
The highlights of Jim’s life while Brandin and Belinda were in school were watching their athleticism in football, basketball, baseball, and softball games and track meets and powerlifting in high school. Jim also drove the kids to Woodward where they ran track on the Woodward teams. Jim and Sonja never missed a game or activity. They also loved to listen to their vocal music and band performances conducted under Miss Jan Smith and Mr. James Rogers. Mr. Beers always marveled at how these two could always get a professional sound from a group of 7th-12th graders and win every competition.
The family spent all Saturdays at Milam Stadium in Weatherford watching Brandin play college football during the fall months including a trip to play football in Mexico City.
Retiring in 1994, Jim and Sonja moved to Putnam to be closer to the farm. They welcomed their beautiful daughter-in-law into their family when Brandin married Ellen (Case) Beers in Hobart, Oklahoma on July 1, 1995.
Another blessing was when their first grandson, Dylan Scott Beers was born on September 8, 2000 and their second grandson, Braden Thomas Beers was born on January 21, 2004. After that, all conversations and activities revolved around “The Boys” and when can we see them next. Jim loved watching each of the boys play football, basketball, baseball, and watched their wrestling events. The highlights of football season would be when Belinda would drive to Thomas to pick him up and they would drive to each football game to watch the boys play and to also watch Brandin coach. These events each week were special times for the family to be together and for Jim and Belinda to spend their special time with each other conversing.
Mr. Beers, always demonstrated the kind of love, devotion, and respect that a husband should have for his wife and stood with her in support of her especially during the last 3 years of her life. He spent anywhere from 8-10 hours each day at Grace Living Center with Sonja tending to her every need. Grace Living became extended family to Jim and Belinda.
Jim was preceded in death by his twin sisters, Clidean and Clodean, his parents, Jack and Atholia Beers, and sisters Darlene and Zelma. He is survived by his loving and devoted daughter and best friend, Belinda Beers, of Sharon, Oklahoma, his wonderful son and best friend, Brandin Beers and wife Ellen of Edmond, Oklahoma, his two precious grandsons, Dylan and Braden Beers of Edmond, Oklahoma, brother and sister in law, Sam and Janis Wooten of Carmen, Oklahoma, nephew and his wife, Rhett and Kendi Wooten, and great nephew, Jackson Wooten, all of Carmen, Oklahoma.
Shaw Funeral Home, Shattuck, Ok.
Jim was known around Putnam as JA but when he met Sonja, he introduced himself as Jim so that’s what she and everyone else called him. He will forever be known as Coach Beers or Mr. Beers by his students from Arnett and Shattuck. Mr. Beers grew up on our farm east of Putnam and led a very active life, helping on the farm in every aspect. When he was “a little guy” as he put it, he helped his Momma while she made quilts. His job was to crawl on the tops of the quilt and cut the stray threads for her. He always went by the Farmers Almanac for everything and told how his Dad and the area neighbors would get together to butcher animals and divide up the meat for the coming winter. Mr. Beers did not like that part of the farm life because of his tender heart and he always avoided this activity.
Mr. Beers rode the bus to school after chores and breakfast. Atholia rode the bus with the kids and got off in town to sell the eggs and buy groceries. While the kids were in school, Atholia walked nearly two miles to go take care of her parents by doing their cooking and cleaning and did the same for Jack’s parents as both sets of parents were neighbors. Then she walked back and rode the school bus home with the kids. He often spoke of the times that his Dad couldn’t sleep and would go out in the middle of the night and plow or sew wheat. Mr. Beers would also carry on this tradition.
Mr. Beers loved to sit by his Momma while she played the piano and he sang all of the old hymns that she taught him.
Before Mr. Beers was a teenager, his Dad, Jack (of all trades), taught him how to lay brick and they built houses and many gymnasiums together as well as bricked courthouses. They bricked the hotels in Waynoka, many houses in Seiling, the Piedmont and Sayre gyms and many others. One Putnam resident, Mr. Roy Jones, told me that if you got Jack Beers and Jim to complete a bricking job for you then you were really doing something.
Mr. Beers excelled athletically while in school. He possessed great athleticism and his athletic feats are still talked about amongst people who watched him play. As a basketball player, according to Coach LR Holley, he was a deadly shot from either corner of the bucket. Coach Holley said that it never made any difference how many were guarding Mr. Beers, once he got in the corner, it was a sure two points because that was his sweet spot. He was tough on defense and an excellent rebounder as he could jump several feet in the air.
Jim also played high school baseball and was a left-handed pitcher. He played legion baseball in Clinton and walked to and from his games in Clinton spending the night when he had back to back games in Clinton. He slept in the park under the amphitheatre and spent time studying the sky and finding all of the constellations and knew them all by name. He was always in the Clinton newspaper and his Momma cherished those articles keeping all of them for her scrapbook.
Mr. Beers graduated from Putnam High School in 1956 and attended Oklahoma Baptist University on a full baseball scholarship for two years. Mr. Beers was the starting pitcher as a freshmen. I remember reading in one of his OBU annuals where he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in his dorm room with several other baseball players present. Mr. Beers became a student of the Bible and would share Jesus with whoever he came into contact with.
Mr. Beers then transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma on a full baseball scholarship. Again, he was the starting pitcher for Northwestern. This is where he met the Love of His Life, Sonja Kay Scott Beers. He met Sonja at Pamburns Cafe after being introduced by a mutual friend. Jim decided to ask Sonja for a date. As he was approaching her dormitory, he saw Sonja in an upstairs window ironing her clothes for the next day. Jim hollered at Sonja through the dorm window and here came the dorm mother chewing Jim out for asking her for a date through the window. Jim said: yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am while walking into the front of the dormitory as he saw Sonja bounding down the steps to meet him. That night he took her to eat and then to the show. After their first date, Jim asked Sonja to go on more dates. Sonja accepted but noticed that sometimes he was running a little late. She noticed that she could look across campus and see from her second floor into Vinson Hall second floor where Jim lived, and could see that he was playing cards. Jim was using his winnings from playing cards so they could go on a date. He was usually about 15 minutes late. Needless to say, Jim could win just about any hand of pitch, poker, or whatever card game he played.
Jim played semi-pro baseball for the VFW. Since he played for the VFW, he was also able to work for the VFW as a doorman. After Jim and Sonja figured out that they had enough money to pool together to live on their own so on November 1, 1957, Jim and Sonja were married in the First Baptist Church in Alva, Oklahoma. They rented the second floor of a three story house for $35/month with the bills paid. Sonja’s parents and sister, Janis, loved Jim with all their hearts. He fit in perfectly with their family and Sonja’s Mom called Jim, “The Bread of Life”. When Janis met and married Sam, they were the perfect couples together. Jim went fishing with Sonja’s Dad, Scotty, and oftentimes fished in the pond of Donna Story Toellner’s Dad.
Jim graduated from college in 1960 and accepted employment at Arnett Public Schools as the coach of everything except the girls softball team. He also taught biology, 8th grade science and drivers education. Sonja graduated in 1961 from college and also accepted employment at Arnett teaching business, home economics and 7th grade language arts. If there was a bus moving for an activity, Jim and Sonja were on it. They sponsored many junior and senior classes. Sonja always kept books for Jim’s basketball and baseball games and enjoyed doing that. Through their years at Arnett, they developed a love for their students that passes all understanding since there was little age difference.
In 1966, Sonja and Jim moved to Shattuck before the birth of their daughter, Belinda Elizabeth Beers. Jim taught science and biology and became the elementary principal. Their son, Brandin Scott Beers was born in 1970. Sonja was an excellent mother and wife according to Jim. They provided a Christian home environment giving a great Biblical foundation in which inspires them to take leadership roles in their respective communities.
As a principal, Mr. Beers often felt like talking to and listening to his students while being just and fair as this was exactly what his students needed. He thought that each student should know that they are an important person, had a great contribution to life, and that he loved them and believed in them. His kind and gentle ways with the kids along with his showing the respect and honor that they deserved, won the heart of each of his students. He truly was the Dad of the school and always modelled excellent behavior because he wanted to be a good example of what he expected of his students. He always told us that we were living in a glass fish bowl, that every decision that we make now sets a pattern for the rest of our lives, don’t ever get yourself into a situation that you can’t get out of, and if you ever have a problem, to come to him and Sonja because they will always support and help us.
When he first became principal, his faculty was composed of teachers who had a great wealth of knowledge and experience of several hundreds of years. He drew on their experiences and was a true leader recognizing that he could learn from them and that they had much to offer to him as well. He always talked about how each of these teachers could have any student, at any level, reading from the readers. At that time, his teachers did not have a textbook to teach reading and they didn’t need one. Their textbook was in their minds. They each had their own methods and Mr. Beers could recall each of their methods and marvelled at how their formulas should have been written into their very own textbooks “because what we have now isn’t worth a darn anymore like what our teachers taught. They had it all figured out and remediated each student.”
Mr. Beers took many leadership roles at the First Christian Church. He served as a deacon, taught Sunday School, and was the Sunday School Superintendent. He took much time and effort in preparing for each of his roles.
As Sonja’s sister and brother-in-law, Janis and Sam Wooten had a precious son, Rhett, the family continued to have family meals together and celebrated all holidays. Rhett, Brandin and Belinda were raised as siblings rather than cousins and were very close. Many trips were made to visit the Wooten family as they moved throughout the country and abroad including two trips to Europe which were highlights for the families and strengthened their bonds with each other.
While at Shattuck, Mr. Beers coached junior high school and high school boys basketball, assisted Coach Holley in junior high and high school girls basketball, he coached elementary football and basketball, and coached elementary and junior high track. He also bricked the concession stands and restrooms at the football field and baseball field as well as bricked up each plate glass window at the elementary school for the safety of the students, drove school buses, ran the clock and books at basketball games, ran the chains at football games, kept football stats in the pressbox, and many other things without receiving monetary compensation for it because Mr. Chaffin had asked him to do it and because he did it for the best interest of each of the students.
The highlights of Jim’s life while Brandin and Belinda were in school were watching their athleticism in football, basketball, baseball, and softball games and track meets and powerlifting in high school. Jim also drove the kids to Woodward where they ran track on the Woodward teams. Jim and Sonja never missed a game or activity. They also loved to listen to their vocal music and band performances conducted under Miss Jan Smith and Mr. James Rogers. Mr. Beers always marveled at how these two could always get a professional sound from a group of 7th-12th graders and win every competition.
The family spent all Saturdays at Milam Stadium in Weatherford watching Brandin play college football during the fall months including a trip to play football in Mexico City.
Retiring in 1994, Jim and Sonja moved to Putnam to be closer to the farm. They welcomed their beautiful daughter-in-law into their family when Brandin married Ellen (Case) Beers in Hobart, Oklahoma on July 1, 1995.
Another blessing was when their first grandson, Dylan Scott Beers was born on September 8, 2000 and their second grandson, Braden Thomas Beers was born on January 21, 2004. After that, all conversations and activities revolved around “The Boys” and when can we see them next. Jim loved watching each of the boys play football, basketball, baseball, and watched their wrestling events. The highlights of football season would be when Belinda would drive to Thomas to pick him up and they would drive to each football game to watch the boys play and to also watch Brandin coach. These events each week were special times for the family to be together and for Jim and Belinda to spend their special time with each other conversing.
Mr. Beers, always demonstrated the kind of love, devotion, and respect that a husband should have for his wife and stood with her in support of her especially during the last 3 years of her life. He spent anywhere from 8-10 hours each day at Grace Living Center with Sonja tending to her every need. Grace Living became extended family to Jim and Belinda.
Jim was preceded in death by his twin sisters, Clidean and Clodean, his parents, Jack and Atholia Beers, and sisters Darlene and Zelma. He is survived by his loving and devoted daughter and best friend, Belinda Beers, of Sharon, Oklahoma, his wonderful son and best friend, Brandin Beers and wife Ellen of Edmond, Oklahoma, his two precious grandsons, Dylan and Braden Beers of Edmond, Oklahoma, brother and sister in law, Sam and Janis Wooten of Carmen, Oklahoma, nephew and his wife, Rhett and Kendi Wooten, and great nephew, Jackson Wooten, all of Carmen, Oklahoma.
Shaw Funeral Home, Shattuck, Ok.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
