John Allen Beeker ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7}

   Another name for John was John Allyn Beeker.⁸

   FamilySearch ID: L2CK-SYS.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Census in 1910 in Atwell Township, Rowan, NC. ⁹ The 1910 census recorded living on Mill Bridge Road: John Becker [indexed wrong due to poor handwriting], laborer, odd jobs, 43, with wife Nannie, 42; May Lillie, 16; Ola, 13; Halley, 11; Mamie, 8; Ethel, 5; and Mitchel, 2. Everyone and their parents were born in North Carolina. John and Nannie were married for 19 years and she had birthed 7 children, all alive in 1910.

2. Census in 1940 in Lebanon Township, Durham, NC. ¹⁰ The 1940 census recorded on Roxboro Road: John A. Beeker, packer operator in cigarette factory, 32, living with wife Jessie F., inspector in cigarette factory, 26. They were born in North Carolina and lived in the same place in 1935.

3. Occupation: American Tobacco Co., Blacknall St., Durham, NC on 16 Oct 1940 in , Durham, England, Great Britain. ⁵

4. He was described as 5' 10", 133 lbs, brown eyes, red hair, light complexion on 16 Oct 1940 in , Durham, England, Great Britain. ⁵

5. Residence: Route 2, Durham, NC on 16 Oct 1940 in , Durham, NC. ⁵

6. Census in 1950 in Durham, Durham, NC. ¹¹ The 1950 census recorded at 2701 Shenandoah Street in Durham: John A. Beeker, drive truck for wholesale bakery, 41, living with wife Faye P., 36; Patricia A., 8; Allen P., 5; and John A. Jr., 1. Everyone was born in North Carolina.

7. Residence: 211 Chateau Road, Durham, NC on 20 Aug 1966 in Durham, Durham, NC. ¹²

8. Residence: 211 Chateau Rd., Durham, NC on 17 Sep 1966 in Durham, Durham, NC. ¹³

9. Residence: 1080 Montego Bay Dr N, Merritt Island, FL, 32953 in 1987 in Merritt Island, Brevard, FL.

10. Newspaper: Florida Today: full page article with photos about John Beeker's stained glass art, 13 Sep 1987, Cocoa, Brevard, FL. ³ Reflections in and reflecting the bright colors of a proud peacock. A Canadian flying goose with a full "harvest moon" in the background graces their front door. In the entrance way of their home and framed with an antique wooden frame, rescued from Goodwill Industries and painstakingly restored by the Beekers, is a favored piece, "The Madonna." John Beeker is enjoying a level of artistic success he never dreamed of when he worked in circulation at the Durham Morning Herald, the newspaper from which he retired in Durham, N.C. His endeavors now reflect the orderliness and perfection he has strived for throughout his life. It doesn't take much space for his present "creative world" just a small screened Florida room which overlooks a canal leading into Sykes Creek. On one wall in the living room is a stained-glass clock. Another corner of the room displays a hanging lamp. Stained glass tulips adorn table lamps, another of his creations made to coordinate with the colors in the living room sofa. Hanging in the window, overlooking the water is a piece of glass with a raccoon, and another with a mallard duck coming in for a landing.
John Allen Beeker, 79, will be 80 on Nov. 22. He laughs heartily when a visitor suggests he's a little old to be starting a new hobby. "I won't start getting old until I'm one hundred," says the Merritt Island man, who began his hobby in stained glass two years ago, after completing a six-week class in the art. "He wouldn't even work a jigsaw puzzle with me. When he got into this, I was flabbergasted," says his wife, Fay, who obviously is proud of her husband's numerous works of stained glass that adorn their home. John says he gets ideas for his creations from pictures, which he has blown up to the size he needs. He makes up his own colors, with the goal of making the picture as natural and colorful as possible. To do this, he researches his subject extensively. "Sometimes I take a notion about something and lie awake at night trying to figure out a way to make the picture into stained glass," Beeker says. Beeker's favorite piece is "always the one I am currently working on." But the picture Fay calls gorgeous and wonders "how in the world he could have done it," is the beautifully colored peacock consisting of 375 pieces 160 of them making up the tail. It covers the length and width of a door and catches the morning sun, glittering.
NATURAL WONDER: Birds and animals are John's inspiration. He says he lies awake at night planning designs and colors for his artwork. Then there is no rest until his new piece of stained glass has been completed.
BRIGHT SUBJECT: Flea markets and garage sales yield antique lamp bases that the Beekers clean and polish, and John remakes into stained-glass creations such as the lamp at left. They are creations that the Beekers will pass on as heirlooms.
JOHN AND FAY BEEKER: Married for 55 years, the Merritt Island couple poses by their front door, decorated with a piece of John's work, brilliant with color when the afternoon sun shines through.
PEACOCK: John Beeker painstakingly and patiently placed 375 pieces of glass into this peacock 160 pieces make up the tail. This is his wife, Fay's, favorite piece. 'And he wouldn't even put a jigsaw puzzle together before he got into this,' she says.
ARTIST AT WORK: John's restlessness in retirement led him to take a course in stained glass. For a small investment in materials and many hours in time, he was able to adorn his Merritt Island home with pieces of stained glass, which, hang from every window. His work is reflective of his love of nature.

11. Newspaper: Florida Today: article about Beeker's 50th Anniversary, 18 Oct 1992, Cocoa, Brevard, FL. ¹⁴ John and Fay Beeker of Merritt Island recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at the Officer's Club on Patrick Air Force Base. They were joined by more than 15 family members and friends. They have two children, Pat Whlsenant of Merritt Island and Allen Beeker of Durham, N.C., They also have five grandchildren. The Beekers were married Sept. 24, 1932, in Durham, N.C.
.

12. Residence: on 25 Oct 1997 in Merritt Island, Brevard, FL. ¹⁵

13. Obituary: Florida Today: Beeker John A., 93, of Merritt Island, died Friday, Aug. 10. Arrangements by Funeral Solutions in Cocoa. On 11 Aug 2001 in Cocoa, Brevard, FL. ¹⁶

John married Jessie Fay Pope, daughter of Charles Edgar Pope and Bessie Cleveland Sorrell, on 24 Sep 1932 in , Halifax, VA.¹ (Jessie Fay Pope was born on 8 Jul 1913 in Durham, Durham, NC,^{1 17} died on 7 Apr 1993 in Merritt Island, Brevard, FL ^{17 18} and was buried on 11 Apr 1993 in Durham: Woodlawn Memorial Park, Durham, NC ^{17 18}.)