Noah Beck Obituary

Noah Jason Beck, 94, of Johnston, passed away on Wednesday, January 19 at Brio of Johnston. A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, May 28 at 1 p.m. at St. Paul Presbyterian Church, 6426 Merle Hay Rd, Johnston, IA.
Jason was born on March 27, 1927, to Reuben Lowery & Alta Mae (Mize) Beck in Alleene, Arkansas. He had 7 brothers and 7 sisters, 10 of which lived to adulthood. He met his wife, Margaret, while she was running her father’s grocery store in Johnston, in May of 1952. He had gone to the store to buy food for himself and the other guys that lived in the Pioneer Clubhouse near the Hy-Line Poultry office. They were married three months later, on August 29, 1952. They lived in Johnston until Jason was transferred to Indian River Poultry Farms in Lancaster, PA in November of 1963. In 1966, they moved back to Johnston and lived there until building a home on Lake Panorama in 1984. When it came time to move to a retirement home, where else would it be, but Johnston? They moved to Brio of Johnston in October of 2018.
Jason and Margaret were founding members of St. Paul Presbyterian Church of Johnston and, after moving to Panora, attended First Presbyterian Church of Guthrie Center. Jason was always active in the church, including, for many years, being a choir member at St. Paul and leading the adult Sunday School class in Guthrie Center. Jesus was his Lord and Savior and he lived his life trying to glorify God.
Jason quit school in 1945, before graduation, in order to join the Navy. After being discharged in 1946, he obtained his GED and attended Kansas State University, where he obtained a BS degree in poultry science in 1950. He then earned a Master’s Degree in genetics from Ohio State University in 1952 and immediately afterward was employed by H. B. Wallace of Hy-Line Poultry, a division of Pioneer, in Johnston, Iowa. Mr. Wallace had given Jason a letter of employment that stated that because he, H.B., was giving Jason this opportunity and placing his faith in him, he hoped Jason would appreciate that by staying with Hy-Line for a while. Forty-five years later, when Jason retired and H.B. was still alive, he returned the letter to H.B. and told him that he hoped he had fulfilled H.B.’s hopes. Even after “retirement”, Jason continued to do consulting work for Hy-Line. Jason was a humble man, but he was proud of the fact that for years, most of the best egg-laying hens around the world were from poultry lines he had worked on.
He was also an avid Lions Club member for more than 50 years, with the Johnston and Panora clubs, helping serve at many pancake breakfasts and fish suppers! He was secretary of the Panora Lions club for 12 years and was proud of the service they provided.
Jason was preceded in death by his parents, six of his brothers, five of his sisters, and his wife of 68 years, Margaret.
He is survived by his daughter, Janice (Dr. John) Stock of Osage and his son, Alan (Dr. Susan) Beck of West Des Moines; four grandchildren: Emily (Colton) Bruggeman, Daniel (Kasie) Beck, Sally Stock, and Alison (Ric) Radcliffe; three great-grandsons; two sisters, Evelyn Welch and JoAnn Barham of Ozark, Arkansas and one brother, R.L. Beck of Sheridan, Arkansas.
Jason had a great sense of humor and his family will miss the impromptu little ditties or poems he would come up with. But they especially appreciated his walk with God and the great example he set as a Christian father and grandfather. No man can leave a better legacy.

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