Catherine "Cathy" R. Beckham

Catherine Hunter Rippelmeyer Beckham was called home by her Savior to take her seat in the Heavenlies according to the promise of Ephesians 2, vs. 4-7. Her loving children as well as her husband and love of six decades, David, were at her side at Watercrest Assisted Living of Myrtle Beach.

Cathy was born August 6th, 1943, to Lieutenant Colonel Henry and Georgia Rippelmeyer. She was a child of the most cataclysmic war in the nation’s history. Cathy’s father, an Army officer, along with her mother and three siblings were assigned to Hickham Field, Hawaii, barely two years before she was born. They were eyewitnesses to and very nearly targets of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, an episode of history that echoed throughout her life and down the generations.

Cathy is survived by her husband, Master Sergeant (ret.) David Campbell Beckham Sr., her daughter Amy Catherine (Doug) Morris of Germantown, Md., her son Major (ret.) David Campbell, (Rhonda) Beckham Jr. of Early Branch, S.C., and their children, David III "Camp" and Shelby, son George Christian (Sophia) Beckham and their children Lucy, Georgie and Mary of Rock Hill, S.C., and son Michael Pittman (Nicole) Beckham of Columbia, S.C. Cathy was predeceased by her parents, her sisters Sally and Harriet and her brother Andy.

Cathy was a concert violinist from age 5 to 18. A 1961 graduate of Spartanburg High School, Cathy enrolled at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She was roommates with the late Louise Beckham Wilkes and soon met and fell in love with her future husband, Louise’s brother.

Cathy and David settled down and raised their four children in St. Matthews. Her goal, her whole mission, was to be a good mama and make sure all four kids finished college. Shakespeare and classical music were two of her loves. She was a marvelous cook who never ran out of ideas for nourishing suppers. Hot Carolina summers, however, sometimes found Cathy substituting homemade ice cream sundaes for a square meal.

Cathy worked as a medical technician. After more than ten years in the field she earned her Medical Technology degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1991. She worked for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Public Health Division more than 25 years.

Cathy was a bird lover and a cross-stich enthusiast. Her husband, never one to miss an opportunity to spoil his bride, surprised her one Christmas with the keys to the front door of the newly and secretly purchased condominium at Myrtle Beach where they would spend their golden years.