Dixie Joanne (Philpott) BEENKEN

PHILPOTT, BEENKEN, SIDMORE, STEENHARD, VANZWEDEN, EIVINS, KINNETZ, FREERKS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:07:00

April 23, 1944 ---- January 15, 2020

Dixie J. Beenken, age 75, of Clarion, Iowa, died Wednesday, January 15, 2020, at the Iowa Specialty Hospital, Clarion, Iowa, with her family by her side. Funeral services will be Tuesday, January 21, 2020, 11 AM, at the Clarion United Methodist Church. Pastor Mike Gudka will be officiating. Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery, Clarion. Visitation will be from 10-11 AM Tuesday at the church. Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond, IA is handling funeral arrangements.

Dixie Joanne Philpott, the daughter of Alan "Lefty" and Darlene (Sidmore) Philpott, was born April 23, 1944, at the hospital in Hampton, Iowa. Dixie grew up in Hampton, where she attended Hampton public schools graduating from Hampton High School in the Class of 1962. She continued her education at Hamilton Business College in Mason City.

Dixie was united in marriage to Alan Beenken November 1, 1962 in Belmond, Iowa. The couple's union was blessed with a daughter Brenda.

Dixie was a life long homemaker, devoted wife and life partner to Alan, and nurturing mother to Brenda and doting grandma to Candice, and more recently became a great grandma to 2 year old Fred. She relished all of these roles and was a selfless giver in all that she did.

Dixie had an entrepreneurial spirit and was a revolutionary lady, who was a great role model and very proficient business woman in the Clarion community. She was a valued employee holding many positions over the years. Including proof reading and many other duties at the Wright County Monitor, a teller at First National Bank-Clarion, and owned and operated her own day care for a number of years. She had a great rapport with the public and business community and her visions for customer service and efficiency in business operations and planning made her the perfect fit for managing from the ground up to prosperity, the original Casey's Convenience Store and a children's clothing store for Larry Stock in Clarion. Dixie had a creative mind and loved to make handcrafted items and woodworking, which eventually led to a time of her owning her own crafts and gift store out of her home. Later on her knack for salesmanship and enjoyment of helping others create lifetime memorials brought her into the realm of being a sales woman for the Lindaman-Mott Memorial Company.

Dixie and Alan enjoyed the simple things in life together, loving their role as parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as well as being surrogate parents/grandparents to the children community that had been a part of Dixie's Daycare over the years. She and Alan were great partners looking out for the neighborhood without recognition. Her caregiving ways were boundless. Dixie had an eclectic love of music, favoring Elvis Presley and popular gospel music. She was a natural Betty Crocker, baking treats for those she loved in the entire community. She expressed gratitude through her pumpkin bars, and if you were lucky enough to get a pan, you knew you were appreciated!

Her family and those who had the privilege of crossing her path will reflect fondly on her being a gentle lady, small in stature with a heart and soul bigger than her being. A humble woman who walked softly down the pathways of life without the need for the spotlight. Dixie left a world behind that was better because of her being in it.

Her memory will live in the hearts and minds of her husband Alan Beenken, Clarion, IA, daughter Brenda (Fred) Steenhard, Clarion, IA, a granddaughter Candice Steenhard (significant other Timothy VanZweden) and her great-grandson Fred Eivins, of Clarion, IA, a surrogate granddaughter Raven Kinnetz, Clarion, IA and sister Dawn (Jim) Freerks, Laurel, IA, along with nieces, nephews, countless friends, and "adopted" family of those she cared for in her years as a daycare provider.

She was preceded in death by her parents Alan "Lefty" and Darlene Philpott, and a brother Dennis Philpott. Memorial directed to Clarion First United Methodist Church Memorial Fund and/or the Clarion, Goldfield, Dows Girls Basketball Booster's Club. Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond, IA.

https://www.andrewsfuneralhomeandfloral.com/obituary/6842514