March 2004                                        The Megaphone                                            Page 2

Friendships

by Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen

                     
I lost a friend today -- earth lost a saint, and heaven gained an angel.

It's strange how friendships form, how they can unite persons over great divides, persons who would not seem to run in the same circles. Such a friendship was mine with Bobbie Beckwith.

Bobbie and I would seem to have nothing in common. She was black; I was white. She was 21 years older than I am. She grew up in a poor, Southern environment; I grew up in a middle class Northern environment. She was active in community affairs and on a first-name speaking basis with the movers and shakers of Indianapolis; I was  what is now referred to as a suburban "soccer mom."

What brought us together was our church (United Methodist); our interest in prisoners; and our faith in Jesus Christ. And the ground is indeed level at the foot of the cross, as the saying goes.

I first met Bobbie in 1987 at a training event at a near-by Methodist Church. I had just begun working as a volunteer in the chaplain's office at the Marion County Jail, so when it was my turn to introduce myself, I gave my name and said, "When I'm not in jail, I'm a housewife." Of course that gave me a chance to explain about my chaplaincy work. This large black woman sitting next to me jumped up and said, "My name is Bobbie Beckwith, and I've been in and out of jails all my life too!" Turns out she had worked with a dear friend in Cook County Jail in Chicago for years before moving to Indianapolis in the 60's.

That was the beginning of a great friendship. I soon learned not to worry if no one answered when I called; she wasn't ill, she was out doing things. Things like helping start Martin University for nontraditional students, things like chairing the Marion County Public Library Board, things like teaching kindergarten and preschool until she retired at 80, things like chairing a roundtable and being active in Republican activities.

She took me as a tag along on several adventures, to government leaders, to courts, etc. She was never deterred if a governor or official didn't want to see her. She just asked where the restrooms were from that person's office and perched herself in-between -- eventually he would come by and she'd be there.

I especially remember two hugs.  One was when we were in the City County Building when I heard a voice boom out, "Bobbie!"  She replied "Bill!" and there she was embracing Bill Hudnut, then mayor of Indianapolis. Two weeks later she was sitting with my family in my church where I was scheduled to preach that morning when she realized that one of "our guys", an ex-convict with a serious drinking problem, was there, and there she was embracing a three-time felon in the church aisle. Mayor or ex-con, it didn't matter -- she loved people.

Bobbie never let stereotypes or other people's opinions color her thinking. One day she asked where my hometown was, and I a little reluctantly said, "Elwood." She replied, "My late husband was a dear friend of Wendell Willkie." I later found out that her late husband, Frank Beckwith, had been an Indianapolis attorney, state legislator, and was the first black man ever to run for President of the United States as a favorite son against Richard Nixon in the Republican primary in 1960. A park is named for him here in Indianapolis.

When life got hectic for Bobbie, she said she was going to "retire" and move to Elwood. She always referred to Elwood as her "retirement community." I remember the thrill when we were driving through town, and I showed her the archway from the old high school, the one that reads "Wendell L. Willkie High School." She looked at it and said, "Frank would be so proud."

Bobbie helped found United Methodist Jail Ministries here in Indianapolis. Each month we do a chapel service at the county jail, and Bobbie was in charge of prayer requests from the inmates. She told them she would be praying for them at 5 o'clock in the morning -- she always got up early to talk to the Lord "before the line forms."

So it was fitting that I got the call shortly after five this morning. There was a fire at her home today, and her son who lived with her managed to miraculously escape with his life, but neither he nor the firemen could reach her. The body was found at 7 am in the ruins of the home that Frank Beckwith had brought her to as his bride back in 1965 -- just a year before his death.

Friendships come in unexpected ways as God sends persons into our lives and then calls them back out. Today I lost a friend, earth lost a saint, and heaven gained an angel.

Submitted by . . .  

Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen '59

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