Beth Cheville

Beth Cheville of Ames, IA, passed away in peace on October 22, 2021, at Israel Family Hospice House in Ames.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 pm until 7:00 pm on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, at Reiman Gardens. The memorial service will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, October, 28, 2021, at First United Methodist Church with Pastor Kerrin Kirkpatrick presiding. A luncheon will follow with subsequent inurnment at Ames Municipal Cemetery.

Bertha May Clark was born the morning of August 24, 1936, on a rural farm in Norway Township, Wright County, Iowa, one year after the death of her teenage brother Junior. From her earliest moments, she brought joy and healing to her parents Charles Albert and Sadie (Mikelson) Clark, sister Ruth, and brother Martin. Across a lifetime, her empathy, gentle kindness, and devotion encouraged and consoled many. Her home and hospitality were always available to those in need.

Beth attended a rural, one-room school house until entering Kanawha High School. She was an active member of the 4-H Norway Ramblers, acquiring culinary, sewing, and other homemaking skills her children would later attempt and fail to emulate. Following her graduation in 1954, Beth attended Iowa State College, majoring in home economics education. There, on a blind date that nearly didn’t happen, she met veterinary student Norman Cheville, whom she married in Kanawha, Iowa, on June 22, 1958. She was subsequently employed as a home economics teacher at Colo High School, where she proved responsive to the needs and aspirations of her students. They, in turn, supported her in February 1959, when her son David Martin, born prematurely, passed away at Mary Greeley Hospital.

Beth would subsequently cultivate homes and lives in San Antonio, TX, Frederick, MD, and Madison, WI, before returning to Ames in 1963. Here, she would embark on a career as a mother and professional volunteer. When her daughter Carol was born with a severe heart defect that led to dramatic developmental delays, Beth worked relentlessly to develop programs and residential options for intellectually and physically disabled children and adults in Ames and Story County. She initiated a mother’s coffee group for women concerned, like her, about the futures of their special needs children. Beth served on the Association of Retarded Citizens’ Story County Board of Directors from 1973 to 1985 and from 1987 to 1993.

 

In 1986, as president of Arc and chair of the Arc/Story County Housing Committee, she assisted Mainstream Living to develop group homes in Ames and Story City. As a member and president of Arc Story County and Mainstream Living executive boards, she proved an effective liaison to United Way, Ames Rotary Club, Ames Public Library, Iowa Special Olympics, and Arc of Iowa. Though she was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award by that organization in 1993 and the Special Olympics Outstanding Summer Games Volunteer of the Year in 2013, her proudest achievements were the realization of the Story County Development Center and the emergence of group homes across central Iowa. Through her efforts, daughter Carol and hundreds of special needs children and adults were finally able to move from state institutional facilities to comprehensive residential care with well-conceived day programming. In March 2021, Mainstream Living dedicated the Beth Cheville House on Douglas Avenue in honor of her unwavering contribution to this effort.

When Beth wasn’t advocating for those with special needs, she delivered Meals on Wheels and maintained leadership roles in Altrusa, PEO-KC Chapter, Story County 4-H, and the inaugural Reiman Gardens CoHort. She was deeply committed to the work of women in First United Methodist Church, volunteering hundreds of hours organizing funeral luncheons and assisting with noodle, tea ring and pie production. Beth’s expertise as a seamstress was on display each Holiday Fair when her Cyclone and Hawkeye-themed accessories flew off the shelves. During the 1990s, having equipped her children with all they needed to thrive, she returned to Iowa State University, deftly managing desktop publishing essential to production of the International Newsletter on Superconductivity, an externally-funded project housed in the Department of Physics.

Beth was a beautiful role model to her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Her kind heart will be deeply missed. A constant in the lives of her grandchildren, she supported their engineering and problem solving each Christmas with sophisticated scavenger hunts and the annual construction of gingerbread houses that grew more fantastical each year. She cherished the hundreds of hours spent reading (and rereading) picture books and always welcomed their visits and help in the kitchen.

Left to cherish her memory are husband Norman of Ames; children, Dr. Julie Cheville (Ian Ogilvie) of Oakland, ME, Carol Cheville of Ames, Dr. John Cheville (Dr. Marie Christine Aubry) of Pine Island, MN, and Anne (Chris) Nelson and their sons Erik, Ian, and Evan of Ames. She leaves behind a sister-in-law LaRue Clark, brother-in-law Terry (Mary) Cheville, and many nieces and nephews who brought her much joy. Beth was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Charles Albert (Junior) and Martin Clark, sister Ruth Durst, and infant son David Martin.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Mainstream Living/Beth Cheville House, 2012 East 13th Street, Ames, IA, 50010.

Adams Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.adamssoderstrum.com