Cora L. Beckwith

Cora Louise Beckwith, 90, of Oswego, Kansas, passed away June 4, 2023. She was born in Mountain View, Oklahoma to James Adrian and Edna Lee Barton Hawke on July 22, 1932. She graduated High School from Cleo Springs, Oklahoma.  In 1949, she married Loyal Clough and with him had a daughter and two sons, Cristy, Dennis and Randy. In 1992 she married Elvin Beckwith with whom she shared a wonderful life until his passing.  The love, joy and foundation of her life was and remains Jesus Christ to whom she dedicated much of her time, talent and treasure.

The title of her life story could very well be "Barefoot in the Country". A country girl at heart, she loved to live where the Milky Way lit up the night and bullfrogs could be heard on distant ponds. She raised cattle and llamas, named them all and sold them reluctantly. In her youth and as a young woman she climbed trees, played basketball, softball, tennis, golf, bowling and water skied. She loved to swim and made sure her children knew how.

She enjoyed gardening, camping, fishing, traveling, crafting, koi fish, her 4 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. There wasn't a recipe she was afraid to alter or a hair color to try. She always had at least one dog and multiple cats. She could drive anything from a combine to an old stick-shift pink Harley Davidson (much too fast and wearing white cowboy boots) to a semi-tractor and made much of her living driving a school bus.

Harvest was a special time.  She relished the hard, hot work and satisfaction of bringing in the crop. Her energy was boundless and her determination, relentless. Some might call her stubborn, and she would take that as a compliment. Some might call her impatient, but she lived life and had no desire to be idle. She was physically strong to begin with, enhanced by picking and loading watermelons under a hot Oklahoma sun in her youth. She could milk a cow, saddle a horse, clean a fish, pluck and fry a chicken, stack hay, kill a snake and shoot a crow all before breakfast.

Louise was creative and enjoyed crafting using wood, yarn, fabric, paint and leather. She could create calm within chaos, order with a word, and heartache with a tear.

Reading was a favorite pastime and she encouraged her children to do the same with comic books and Mad magazines.

A true mother in identity, spirit and deed, children, her own and others, were a large part of her life and showed in her being a Cub Scout and Camp Fire Girl leader, Bible school teacher, Head Start Bus driver and foster parent. She never hovered over her children, expecting them to be as daring and adventurous as she had been.

Like the tumbleweeds she grew up around, she traveled through life with the sense of freedom that comes from making new choices and fresh starts.

She was preceded in death by her husband Elvin Beckwith, her father James Hawke, mother Edna Hawkins, stepfather Chris Hawkins, brothers James W. Hawke and Douglas M. Hawke, sister Florene Hawkins and her beloved toy poodle Heidi Donowrong.

She is survived by her sisters Wyvone Scoggins of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Evalyn Scoggins of Cleo Springs, Oklahoma; Children and their spouses Cristy Mantonya and Len Haraughty, Dennis and Cindy Clough, and Randy and Jeanie Clough; Grandchildren Kurt Mantonya (Becky), Amber Vance (Marty), Jared Clough, and Jason Clough (Catie); Great-grandchildren Maggy, Cody and Brady Mantonya, Rowdy and Brody Vance, Reagan, Asa and Mayleigh Clough, and Harrison, Graham, Henry and George Clough. And lifelong friend and co-conspirator Betty Church. She also leaves behind a legacy through the many foster children that she cared for and loved.

The funeral service will be graveside at Oswego City Cemetery on Thursday, June 8, 2023 at 10:30 AM and officiated by Pastor Tom Heflin.

Memorials are suggested to the First Southern Baptist Church in Oswego.  These may be left at or mailed to the Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home of Chetopa, P.O. Box 346, Chetopa, KS  67336.