Bea Coursey Baughman

Augustine Beatrice Coursey, who was known throughout her life as “Bea,” was born on August 21, 1929 in Enid, Oklahoma to Belton Tyrus and Verdie Ellen (Elliott) Coursey. In October of that same year, our country would go through massive changes from the Great Crash of Wall Street and a month later in November, Bea’s family moved to Kansas City, Missouri through the summer of 1936 until the divorce of her parents. From summer 1936 to summer 1937 she continued to live in Kansas City with her mother and stepfather along with her full siblings. Eventually, Bea, along with her brother, would go and live with their father. By riding the rails as transients, they moved to Stayton, Oregon, where her father was able to take a job working in the string bean field for her Uncle Arlie Elliott who was the “bean boss.” With this job, her father could provide a place for his children to live alongside their extended family. In the spring of 1940, they moved to “tent city” which was a migrant farm workers camp in Shafter, California. Eventually her father would remarry in June of 1940 and Bea lived in Shafter along with her father, brother B.T., and stepmother.  In 1942 she would go to live with her mother and sisters. Bea rode  the train alone from Shafter back to Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 12. Bea would live in Kansas City until 1943 when her stepfather died. After that their family, Bea, her mother, and sisters, moved to the Venice community of Los Angeles, California where she later graduated from high school. In August of 1949, Bea’s life would change when she would meet her future husband, Forest Baughman at church. They married just a few months later on November 23, 1949 at the LA Church of God. The new couple would settle in Norwalk, California. In July of 1955 they moved from Norwalk to Scio, Oregon where they lived together for many years until Forest’s death in 1993. Bea remained in that same home for 64 years. Most recently, Bea moved to an assisted living apartment at Elmcroft of Stayton, Oregon. In Scio, Bea cultivated relationships with her church community at Scio Baptist Church. She loved to teach Sunday school, was a young woman's youth leader for King’s Daughters, and was also a craft leader at Vacation Bible School many times. Bea loved being involved with church music whether it was through solos, duets, quartets, choir, or worship team. She helped with AWANA games and music as a leader. Through her relationships at Scio Baptist, Bea was a member of The Lifeline Trio with Gayle Limbeck and Joan Thompson, who performed at Scio Baptist Church and for other events or churches nearby. She was a dedicated and professional volunteer for American Red Cross for most of her life in Scio and was the Regional Representative from 1979-1989.  After helping to acquire blood donors for a local man who had an accident, Bea contacted the American Red Cross and started the Scio Bloodmobile 59 years ago. She would be the chairwoman for this organization for 25 years.  During one of the donation days in the 1970’s the total people who successfully donated was 100, which was an amazing amount of people because the town’s total population, at that time, was only 565. Bea was also the founder and director of Scio Plus Club, which brought in more than 700 units of blood per year without additional cost to the Red Cross by assisting donors to find other Bloodmobiles in their surrounding area during the year for which they could donate. Bea also donated her time to the United Way donation drive and as an election poll worker for Scio for 10 years. She volunteered her time to the local schools as a room mother, PTA, and PTA officer. She helped everyone from babies to adults to learn to swim and learn water safety by being the director and organizer of Scio’s swimming program for 14 years. Giving of her time to others in the community was only part of Bea’s life, but if you knew Bea, she had plenty of positive energy and encouragement to spare. Bea hosted many large Elliott gatherings for her extended family. She dedicated herself to watching her children and grandchildren play sports or perform music.  After giving so much of herself to her family and community, she enjoyed many other things:  Bible Study, canning, gardening, sewing, arts, and crafts. Before her health began failing, Bea traveled extensively, not only to her immediate and extended families’ homes in eastern Oregon, western Washington, California, Canada, Arizona, and Texas, but also around the country and overseas on tours and cruises. She loved to keep her life organized and in touch with others by the use of her computer as well as playing computer Mahjong and Solitaire. She also indulged in old movies and television shows. She became an avid fan of football and other sports with her son, Rusty. No matter her age, Bea cherished the value of life-long learning and encouraging her family to pursue their dreams. Bea lived a dedicated and full life until her passing, due to a stroke and complications, on January 11, 2020 at the age of 90 in the Salem Health Hospital in Salem, Oregon. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother B. T., and sister Betty, in addition to her husband Forest. She is survived by her children - Russell Tod Baughman, Melissa Gay Moore; grandchildren - Adam Baughman, Lynsi Cairoli, Miles Menzel, Jacob Moore, Atalie Grant, Anna Moore, Joseph Moore, Jonathan Moore; great-grandchildren - Evie Baughman, Ezra Baughman, Oakley Menzel; and siblings - Dot Harloe, Aleta Lum, Shelly Joseph, and Chris Trionfetti.