Patricia Ann Johnson Beckham, 85, of Tifton passed away Thursday, July 22, 2021, at her residence. Her funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, July 26, 2021, in the Chapel of Bowen- Donaldson Home for Funerals with the Rev. Ronnie Howell officiating. Mrs. Beckham will be laid to rest at Tift Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends on Sunday, July 25, 2021, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen- Donaldson Home for Funerals. COVID-19 precautions will be observed during the visitation and the funeral service.
Patricia Ann McNeese Johnson Beckham was born June 11, 1936 to parents Augustus Leoy McNeese and Maggie Florene Davidson McNeese in Alamo, Georgia. She came home to two sisters, Inez and Betty and her brother, Alvin came eleven years later. Through 16 years of moves and school changes, she chose Tifton as her forever home. She began work as a hospital aid, living in the basement of Tift General Hospital. Little more than a year later, she found the love of her life, Marvin Earl Johnson, Sr. They were married the day after her 18th birthday and their union produced four children, Trina, Jan, Earl and Ginger; six grandchildren, Nicole, David, Derek, Daniel, BethAnn and Taylor; and nine great-grandchildren, Justin, Dylan, Jadyn, Evan, Malcolm, Marli, Olivia, and Emma. Raising her children and working full time, she decided to return to school to become a registered nurse. She graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College with an associate nursing degree in the inaugural class of 1968. Her passion was healthcare and she worked in the field for over 40 years, ending her career as an operating room nurse at Tift Regional Medical Center. Late in life, she found her last love on the dance floor. Ann and Don danced through the last fourteen years of her life.
Patricia to some, Ann to many, she was a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend. She loved unconditionally everyone whose life she touched. She believed in family, kept her friends close and her family closer, and valued those above all else.
She was preceded in death by her father Augustus Leoy McNeese(1972), mother Maggie Florene McNeese(2001), husband Marvin Earl Johnson, Sr.(1992) and daughter Jan Johnson Vasas(Steve)(2008), and husband Coy Billy Paulk(2003), son-in-law Rick P. Kesler (Ginger)(2017), and great grandson Noah James von Waldner(2017) as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.
She is survived by her husband of 14 years Donald F. Beckham; daughter, Trina Johnson von Waldner (Mark), son, Marvin Earl Johnson, Jr. (Daniela Chambos), daughter, Ginger Johnson Kesler (Rick), son-in-law Steve Vasas (Jan); grandchildren Nicole Lupo Browning (Cooper), David von Waldner (April), Derek von Waldner (Molly), Daniel von Waldner (Kayla), BethAnn Vasas, and Taylor Kesler (Alexis).
Patricia had a lifelong love of flowers but, if you prefer, donate to the Alzheimer's Association, SW GA Regional Office, 2402 Tift Avenue North, Suite 102, Tifton, GA 31794; or the American Lung Association, 6852 Belfort Oaks Place, Jacksonville, FL 32216.