30 Mar Obit: Death of Rev. Kenneth Beattie

We just received word about the death of Rev. Kenneth A. Beattie on Saturday, March 26, 2011. Rev Beattie, a minister for over 55 years, died in Toledo Hospital of complications from dementia. He was 83.

Rev. Beattie began showing symptoms of dementia about three years ago, and had broken both hips in separate falls during the past two years. He lived at home and was undergoing rehabilitation for his most recent break when he was taken to the hospital on March 22 because of difficulty breathing.

He was a Navy SeaBee during World War II, serving in the Philippines. Before entering the ministry, he worked for a machine products company and farmed in Defiance County, Ohio. He preached and held tent revivals in the Defiance area.

Rev. Beattie received degrees from Fort Wayne Bible college and the Huntington University Seminary. He served 13 years at churches in Sherwood, Ohio, and Camden, Mich., plus several years in evangelistic work. Then, in 1969, he became pastor of Harvest Lane UB church in Toledo, Ohio. He stayed for 12 years, overseeing the expansion of the sanctuary.

After leaving Harvest Lane, he pastored two UB churches in Michigan on a circuit–Riverside UB in Monroe and Morocco UB in Temperance. He then moved on to Pontiac, Mich., to pastor First Christian Missionary Alliance Church.

Reverend Beattie planned to retire in 1988 when he returned to Toledo, but then discovered a small Wesleyan church that needed a pastor. He volunteered part-time for a while, and then went fulltime, serving as pastor until retiring in 2009.

Reverend Beattie and his wife, Jean, were married for 63 years. Surviving are his wife, two daughters, and a son.

Services were held Wednesday, March 30, at 11 am in the Reeb Funeral Home in Sylvania, Ohio.