Laura Beattie

LAURA M. BEATTIE

Mount Pleasant

Laura M. Beattie, 85, of Mount Pleasant, died Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. Services for Mrs. Beattie will be Wednesday, March 3, at the First United Methodist Church, 309 N. Main St., Mount Pleasant. The service will begin with an Order of the Eastern Star Service at 11 a.m. conducted by the New London Chapter #440 O.E.S. The funeral service will immediately follow with the Rev. David Bracht-Wagner, senior pastor, officiating. Cremation rites will be accorded following the service with a private family burial on Thursday at Forest Home Cemetery, Mount Pleasant. Open visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 N. Main St., Mount Pleasant. The family will not be present. The services will be livestreamed on the First United Methodist Church YouTube channel. Masks will be required, and social distancing guidelines will be in place for the visitation and funeral service. Memorials, in lieu of flowers, are for ESTARL (Eastern Star Training Awards for Religious Leadership) and the First United Methodist Church (for youth programs). Online condolences may be left at www.kimzeyfuneralhome.com.

Mrs. Beattie, the former Laura May Kelly, was born June 28, 1935, in Des Moines County, Iowa. She was the daughter of William "Ward" and Maude (Watson) Kelly. She attended Glenwood School near Danville and Cedar Oak School near Biggsville, Ill. She graduated from Biggsville High School in 1952 and then graduated from the Burlington Hospital School of Nursing in 1955. On Nov. 24, 1955, at the Biggsville Methodist Church, Laura was united in marriage to Wendell William Beattie.

Laura was a longtime registered nurse in the obstetrics department of the Henry County Health Center. After her retirement, Laura was a volunteer at the Van Vorhies Haus in Moun. Pleasant.

Laura was a member of the First United Methodist Church. She was a 50-plus year member and Past Worthy Matron of the New London Chapter #440 of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a member of the DAR, the Des Moines County Genealogy Society and the Henderson County Genealogy Society.

Those thankful for sharing in Laura's life include her four children, Beverly Beattie of Denver, Colo., Barbara Beattie and husband Bob Harding of Chattanooga, Tenn., William Beattie and wife Sharon of Mount Pleasant and Raymond Beattie and wife Sherri of Ottumwa, Iowa; a brother, Roger Kelly of Biggsville, Ill.; a sister-in-law, Barbara Kelly of Quincy, Ill.; eight grandchildren, James William (Carley) Beattie, Ariel Beattie, Kyle (Shannon) LaRue, Dylan Beattie, Amy Beattie, Emilee Beattie, Rachael (Samer) Almansory and Nathan (Clare) Harding; and five great-grandchildren, Tripp, Theo, Oliver, Alania and Ameerah.

Her parents, husband, Wendell (who died May 25, 2014); brother, Stuart Kelly; and sister-in-law, Betty Kelly, preceded Laura in death.