Bob Beebe

~ In Memoriam ~

Bob Beebe (faculty)

It is with deep sorrow that the family of Bob Beebe, a 30-year resident of Idyllwild, relates the news of his passing Tuesday, March 3, 2009, at his home in Hemet. Bob came to Idyllwild as a teacher in language and music at the famed Desert Sun School, but very soon became recognized as a gifted teacher in the ways of kindness and responsibility for all who came in contact with him. Though Bob did much in the way of rebuilding and reselling crippled properties on the Hill, his real passions were classical music at his piano, producing his unique works of painting as a self-taught artist, his love of old cars, and his deep reading of all kinds of books that might offer insight into “the human condition” and ways of improving it. Bob was a seeker, a learner and rich in empathy and compassion; he was a great teacher by example. But by far, Bob’s greatest passion and satisfaction was his family — his wife WenPing (Mary) from China, whom he met on the Hill, and their two children, Melissa, 9, and Mark, 7. Some of the knots in his early rope are these: Born in Coos Bay, Ore., in 1931, he and his brothers were raised through the Great Depression by a strong-willed aunt. After service in the U.S. Army in Germany, he attended Humboldt State College and Mexico City College, and left the University of Colorado with a master’s degree. He taught at Deep Springs College before coming to the Desert Sun School in Idyllwild.

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