Loren Beyer, 63, passed away Sunday, Mar. 8, 2015, at his home in Sully. Funeral services were held Saturday, Mar. 14, at Sully First Reformed Church. Interment was in Sully Cemetery.
Loren Gerrit Beyer was born Dec. 16, 1951, in Grinnell as the first born son to Charly and Elotia (Myers) Beyer. Loren graduated with the Lynnville-Sully High School Class of 1970. He worked various jobs during and after school but his love for farming was his great desire. Farming alongside his dad, whom he looked up to, is what he recalled later in his life. Those were his best years. On Oct. 20, 1972, Loren married his high school sweetheart Susan Louise Dunsbergen at Sully First Reformed Church. They were blessed with two children and two adorable granddaughters, Olivia and Ruby, whose visits and smiles he so enjoyed.
Loren loved the outdoors. He loved hunting, camping, playing slow pitch, volleyball both co-ed and men's league, and motorcycle riding. He was one of the first motorcyclists in the 1970s to conquer the Peoria Hill. Loren's love of farming also included much custom work for other farmers. He was known for his tight big round bales and trucking. He had been a member of the Farm Bureau and Sully Lions Club.
Loren endured several accidents that changed his personality. They included insecticide poisoning, electrocution, his arm up a grain auger, and carbon monoxide poisoning. They left him with a hidden depression he was unable to shake.
In 2006, Loren and Susan were divorced, but stayed very good friends. In April 2008, Loren checked himself into Harvest Farms in Wellington, CO, for substance abuse. Three weeks into the program on May 2, 2008, he suffered a massive right-side brain bleed at the age of 56 years. He was not expected to live. For more than a year, he worked hard at therapy at Poudre Valley Hospital in Colorado and On With Life in Ankeny to regain strength in his left side. He had a stay in the nursing home for rehab and wanted out so badly. Loren had learned how to function again and walk with a cane. He really wanted to run again, play ball, and fly an airplane. This was his new dream.
In April 2009, Loren went to live with his dad. They had unique times together, sometimes laughing at who could get up first. When his dad died in September 2011, Loren went to live in the apartments at 608 8th Avenue in Sully. He lived on his own with Susan's assistance until Sept. 5, 2014, when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma along with pyoderma gangrenosum that he had been battling for over two years. He went to the Comfort House in Pella until Nov. 15, 2014, when he moved in with Susan to finish his last days on earth. Those left to cherish his memory are: Susan Beyer, his best friend and caregiver; his daughter, Angela Sue Beyer of Sully; his son Chad Eric (Laura) Beyer of Lynnville; two granddaughters, Olivia and Ruby; a brother, Steve (Jocelyn) Beyer of Sully; and two sisters, Lynda (Carroll) Miller of Prairie City and Jackie (Andrew) Halfman of Marion. He leaves three aunts and two uncles: Lucille Kern of Ladora, Lloyd and Arlene Brand of Sully, and Carrol and Marylou Beyer of Searsboro.
Loren was preceded in death by his parents; a niece, Jennifer Green; and his grandparents, Gerrit and Gertie (Slycord) Beyer and Russell and Edna (Merrick) Myers.
As a child, Loren attended the Taintor United Methodist Church and was a member of the Sully First Reformed Church at the time of his death.
Loren will be remembered for his dry but funny humor that had his friends laughing.
