Obituary of Dewann C. Beatson
Dewann C. Beatson (Jepsen)
Victor: Passed away on December 12, 2018 at age 84. She was predeceased by her beloved husband of 53 years, James H. Beatson, Jr. She is survived by her children, James Beatson, Kevin (Annette) Beatson, Timothy Beatson, Anne (Daryl) Rossi, Paul Beatson, Thomas Beatson, William Beatson; grandchildren, Brad Beatson, Patrick (Harley) Rossi & Philip (Karryn) Rossi; great-granddaughter, Addy Rossi; brother, Roy (Joan) Jepsen; many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Dewann was born on August 20th, 1934 to Bert & Jewell Jepsen. After she graduated from high school, she joined the United States Navy. She trained as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and worked at the Oakland Naval Hospital in California for the next two years.
She was then assigned to sea duty aboard the USNS David C Shanks, a transport ship that carried troops and dependents. She traveled to places including Japan, Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines as a hospital corpsman. She saw the destruction that remained in the Philippines from WWII. And seeing the site where the wreckage of the U.S.S. Arizona battleship rests in Pearl Harbor had a profound effect on her. She saw the devastation and destruction of war, and all the lives that were lost or changed forever for the sake of freedom, it had a profound impact on her life.
It also changed her life in another way. While aboard the ship, she met a corpsman named James Beatson. The two served together for four months until Jim Beatson was discharged. The couple exchanged letters and kept in touch for three years. Dewann was honorably discharged on May 21st 1959, and the couple married less than a month later in Hanover, PA on June 6th 1959.
They moved to Albany, where Jim Beatson was finishing his last year at the Albany College of Pharmacy. They welcomed their first child, Jim, while living in Albany. The couple then moved to Phelps, NY while Jim worked at an internship and became a pharmacist. They welcomed their second son, Kevin, while living in Phelps. Their next move was to Rochester when Jim Beatson accepted a better-paying pharmacist job, where they welcomed their third son, Tim.
After 18 months in Rochester, they saved enough money to buy their growing family a home in Victor, and she has been there since. They welcomed a daughter Anne, and then another three sons – Paul, Tom, and Bill. And four of their sons served in the military.
While raising 7 children, Dewann also found the time to volunteer with the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts. And from the early 1970s until 2000, she was busy working at St. Patrick’s Church in Victor. When her youngest child was 10, she took a night job as an LPN in the infirmary at the Sisters of Mercy motherhouse on Blossom Road in Brighton. Dewann loved working there, “there was a lot of good old-fashioned nursing and a lot of ‘God bless yous’ from the patients. And what other job could you get communion every morning?”
She also found a second home as a volunteer for the Victor-Farmington Volunteer Ambulance Corps. She served as an emergency medical technician (EMT) for many years until she encountered some health issues that included hearing loss in one ear, and some balance problems. Although those health issues resulted in her having to give up her job at the motherhouse and her EMT volunteering, she continued to volunteer with the ambulance corps as a dispatcher for many more years. She was honored to be a lifetime member of the ambulance corps.
Dewann continued to focus on volunteering with veterans’ groups and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Canandaigua. She was a very active member, and former commander, of the American Legion’s James Cooke Post 931 of Victor. In 1997-98, she became the first woman to serve as the Legion’s county commander for Ontario County. One of the perks she really enjoyed was riding in a Corvette convertible at each Memorial Day Parade in Victor.
Among her accomplishments is the formation of Finger Lakes Unit 49 of WAVES National – a group of women veterans who served at sea and now volunteer thousands of hours a year to community and veterans’ groups. After learning about a WAVES unit in Massachusetts, Dewann decided to try to form a local unit. Six women showed up at the first meeting on October 10th 1987, and each month more and more women kept showing up. The group was chartered in May 1988 as the second one to form in New York State. Members of the Finger Lakes WAVES Unit 49 thought that Dewann’s accomplishments deserved recognition, and nominated her to be placed in the Book of Lives and Legacies at the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls (www.womenofthehall.org/book/dewann-jepsen-beatson).
Friends may call Tuesday, December 18th from 4-7 PM at Miller Funeral and Cremation Services of Victor, 301 West Main Street, Victor. Dewann’s Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, December 19th at 10AM at St. Patrick's Church, 115 Maple Avenue, Victor. Interment, St. Patrick's Cemetery in the spring. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Victor Farmington Ambulance, 1321 East Victor Road, Victor, NY 14564.