Weston Christopher McElroy

Kevin married Jennifer Lucente 16 Mar 2013, Chicago, Cook County, Illiniois. Jennifer (daughter of John Ridenour Beckwith and Diane R. Gardner, daughter of Chris T. Lucente and Mary Ellen) was born 5 Jun 1976, Elmhurst, DuPage County, Illinois. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

OCCUPATION: Retail manager Osco, Radio Shack

John married Diane R. Gardner NOT MARRIED. Diane (daughter of Gardner) was born 27 Dec 1957. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Confidential:

Other Events:

• Residence: From 1928 to 1929, Grenada Hotel, 525 Arlington Place, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
• Residence: From 1929 to 1931, North side of Chicago (Altgeld?)
• Census: 1930, 1516 Ardmore Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
• Residence: From 1932 to 1933, North Glenwood Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; Kindergarten
• Residence: From 1934 to 1935, North Kenneth Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; 1st/2nd grade
• Residence: From 1936 to 1937, Cramer Street, Shorewood, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; 2nd/3rd grade (building no longer standing, replaced by apartment complex)
• Residence: From 1937 to 1938, 2107 East Menlo Blvd., Shorewood, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; 3rd/4th grade
• Residence: From 1939 to 1942, 537 Arlington Place, #60, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; 5th/7th grade
• Census: 1940, 537 Arlington Place, #60, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
• Residence: From 1942 to 1952, 457 Roslyn Place, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; 8th thru first year of marriage
• Residence: From 1952 to 1953, 1201 West Wood Street, Decatur, Macon County, Illinois
• Residence: From 1953 to 1958, 4687 West Main Street, Decatur, Macon County, Illinois; House no longer standing, now part of Millikin University campus.
• Residence: From 1958 to 1963, 5 Northland Drive, Decatur, Macon County, Illinois
• Residence: From 1963 to 1964, 721 S. Lodge Lane, Lombard, DuPage County, Illinois
• Residence: From 1964 to 1993, 709 S. Lodge Lane, Lombard, DuPage County, Illinois
• Residence: From 1993 to, 1680 Valley Woods Drive, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee

Notes:

Bob learned to play piano at an early age and kept it as a hobby most of his life, thus carrying on the family musical tradition. As a teenager, he joined the Boy Scouts of which his father was the leader. In high school he attended Lane Technical magnet school in Chicago, Illinois.

World War II ended before Bob was of draft age. He then attended two years at the University of Illinois Navy Pier campus in Chicago and completed his bachelor's degree in education at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois.

Bob met his bride Jeanette while on a family trip to the Tennessee mountains. In 1953, he took his wife and first son 200 miles south of Chicago to Decatur, Illinois to take on a 6th grade teaching position. To satisfy his musical interest and tradition, he led the school choir.

In able to support a growing family, Bob also took on part time work in a local grocery store. Even so, he was able to complete a Masters degree in education from the University of Illinois in Champaign.

In 1963, Bob joined the Illinois Education Association to represent teachers throughout the state of Illinois. He then moved his family to Lombard, Illinois, a suburb twenty miles West of Chicago.

Bob kept his piano skills tuned by accompanying his children in their musical recitals. He also became known for his whistling skills and he often could be heard belting out melodic tunes.

In 1968, Bob took on the position of Education Manager for the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce. There he worked closely with state educators and legislators. When he retired, the Illinois State Senate and House both declared the day "Robert M. Beckwith day" by official proclamation.

Bob retired 1 January 1993 and is presently residing with Jeanette in Sevier County, Tennessee.

Robert married Jeanette Lee Clabo 25 Aug 1950, Original First Baptist Church of Pigeon Forge, Pigeon Forge, Sevier County, Tennessee. Jeanette (daughter of Eddie Lee Clabo and Charity Alice Reagan, daughter of Media Edards "Edd" Shields and Davie Eliza Shults) was born 12 Mar 1927, Eddie & Charity Clabo homestead, Sevier County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Census: 1930, District 13, Sevier County, Tennessee
• Baptism: 20 Oct 1940, Sevier County, Tennessee

Notes:

Jeanette Lee Clabo was born at home, which is no longer standing, in the Shady Grove community in Sevier County Tennessee.

Following a serious illness of her mother and the premature death of her father, Jeanette, the third eldest of four children, was taken in by the Ed Shields family in an effort to provide neighborly help during those perilous times. Jeanette so captured the hearts of the Shields that she remained as one of the family into her adult years.

Jeanette tells the story of her experience as a child with the family mule named 'Bob'. Seems Bob swished his tail in Jeanette's face and to defend herself she grabbed the tail, whereupon Bob kicked back and hit Jeanette square in the nose. Bloody and knocked out, the family feared she had been killed. On the way to the doctor, with blood gushing from her face, Jeanette became semi-conscious and overheard the family discussing her death. With a lot of family love and belief in God, Jeanette recovered.

Following a heavy rain in the mountains, a flooded Bird's Creek washed a footbridge away thus blocking Jeanette's path home. Brother Claude Shields came to her rescue with mule 'Bob'. Jeanette had the choice of drowning in the rising creek, or both riding home to safety on the back of a swimming Bob.

For several summers Jeanette waited tables at the New Riverside Hotel in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The summer of 1948 was memorable since she waited table for a college man and his parents who were visiting the hotel from Chicago, Illinois. This meeting started a two-year courtship, mostly by mail, and ended in marriage on August 25, 1950 at the First Baptist Church of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Thus her career began in raising three fine sons in Illinois, Robert Shields, John Ridenour, and David Lynn. In 1993 she returned to Tennessee with her husband to enjoy their retirement home in Sevier County looking out at Shields Mountain.