Lenora Beckwith

A Celebration of Life service for Lenora L. Beckwith age 71 of Enid will be 10:00 am Tuesday at the Ladusau-Evans Chapel with Rev. Kelly Cronkhite officiating. Burial will be 10:30 am Thursday in the De Bolt Cemetery, Arnett, OK. The family will receive friends Monday from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the funeral Home. Arrangements and Cremation are under the direction of Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home.

Beloved Lenora “Nonie” Schoenhals Beckwith passed peacefully from this life to her eternal home on July 9, 2020. The world was greatly improved when Lenora entered it on March 29, 1949 in Shattuck, OK. The first child of Bennie and Emma (Gross) Schoenhals. Lenora enjoyed growing up on the family farm, spending time with her beloved Uncles Jake and Harry Gross, cousins of both the Gross and Schoenhals families, and playing the role of best big sister to brother, Lloyd. She flourished as a student of Shattuck Public Schools and formed many deep and lasting friendships with classmates. Lenora was introduced to nursing as a career by her mother, Emma. Even while in high school, she served as a candy striper at Newman Memorial Hospital. After graduating from Shattuck High School with the class of 1967, Lenora attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University before entering the nursing program at the Baptist Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. Her class of “sisters” became known as “The Dirty Dozen” and was the last class to graduate from the program at Baptist. They are all still in close contact today. While in nursing school, friends introduced her to a handsome young flight mechanic serving in the United States Air Force. After months of courting, Lenora and Barry Beckwith were married on July 2, 1971. They spent the early years of their marriage in Portsmouth, NH and Baxter Springs, KS before returning to live in Shattuck in 1974. During their years in Shattuck, their family grew with the addition of Jennifer Kay in 1974 and Bryce Wayne in 1977. Lenora resumed working at Newman Memorial Hospital, spending time working in the Emergency Room, Surgery and Recovery units. Barry and Lenora moved to Enid in 1997 where she went to work for Bass Hospital, working in the surgery department, and later working at L-Tech. In 2002, she went to work for Hospice Circle of Love, where she found her passion helping families with her infectious smile and gift to make people feel at ease. She retired from nursing in 2014, but continued to work for Hospice Circle of Love. Lenora attended the Congregational Church in Carrier. Many who came to know and love Lenora were her patients and her patients families. She brought an indescribable dose of love along with care to each patient she served. But her love and compassion were not reserved only for patients...she graciously heaped it on everyone she knew. She genuinely cared for everyone she knew and tried to make sure they knew how esteemed they were in her heart. And there was NO ONE with a memory like Lenora’s! Birthdays and anniversaries were her specialty, and she strived to make people feel loved and significant by sending countless cards to commemorate the occasions. Her memory wasn’t limited to dates. Stories, occasions, recipes, phone numbers, addressees...she was a walking Rolodex! If you were one of the sweet people who had ever given Lenora a gift, please know that she remembered that gift, the occasion, the date and the giver...all the way back to wedding gifts she received in 1971!!! To know Lenora was to know the love of Jesus. She left her handprint on this world as few can do. Of the most value to her were her relationships with people...family, friends and friends she had yet to meet. There was no one immune from her love! She shared that love with everyone she met and made them feel “special.” She would not want us to be sad for her departure. If we all gave a piece of what she taught us back to everyone we meet, the world would be a better place! She’s now in Heaven smiling down on us with arms wide open giving us that amazing smile and hug that only Lenora could give.

Lenora is survived by her husband Barry of the home, son Bryce Beckwith of Enid, daughter, Jennifer Baker and husband Clinton of Zionsville, IN, her grandchildren; Carston and Courtney, her bother Lloyd and wife Janet Schoenhals of Clinton, OK and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to Hospice Circle of Love with Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home serving as custodians of the funds. Condolences may be made online and the service may be viewed online at www.ladusauevans.com

.