Reginald P. Beers Jr

Reginald Pardey Beers, Jr., 87, passed away at his home in Ashford, Connecticut, on Sunday evening, November 25, 2012. Mr. Beers was born in Swampscott, Massachusetts on June 7, 1925, the son of the late Reginald Pardey Beers and Clara (Underwood) Beers. He moved with his family to Hartford, Connecticut in 1939. He graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1943. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1943 to 1946 and saw action in the Pacific theater aboard the USS Burlington (PF-51), which was assigned to escort and patrol duty in support of the western New Guinea operations and the Leyte operation which has been called the crucial battle of the war in the Pacific. Later he served on the USCG Mojave (WPG-47) for Greenland patrol. With fellow WW II veterans of the town of Ashford, he received the Connecticut public service award for patriotism and sacrifice from the Connecticut Secretary of State in a special ceremony on June 7, 2008, coincidentally his 83rd birthday. On returning from the war, Mr. Beers attended the University of Connecticut where he pursued a major in philosophy. He married his wife of 64 years, Carolyn (Hayward) Beers, in 1948. With her he raised a family and shared in the work of a family dairy farm in Ashford where they have lived for fifty-one years. He attended church from an early age, and served as a Sunday school teacher and member of the church board. He had a fine voice and enjoyed singing in the church choir. He was a member of the Christian Fellowship of Windsor for thirty years. Mr. Beers was predeceased by his son, Charles Thomas Beers, and his brother, Roy Wesley Beers. He leaves his beloved wife, Carolyn; his son and daughter- in-law, Philip and Florence Beers of Ashford, his daughter, Donna Beers of Natick, Massachusetts, his sons, Kenneth Beers and Reginald P. Beers III, of Ashford; his sister, Elizabeth Anderson of Zephyrhills, Florida; five grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. A funeral service, led by his cousin, Calvin L. Keeler, Sr., Minister of Visitation of the Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Newark, Delaware, will be held at the Westford Congregational Church, 368 Westford Hill Road, Ashford, Connecticut on Saturday, December 8, 2012, at 11 a.m. with interment following at the Westford Hill Cemetery. The family will receive visitors at the Church from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. immediately preceding the church service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Ashford Volunteer Fire Department (PO Box 1 Ashford, CT 06278). For an online guestbook, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com .