Luther Martin Beman, age 90, died on February 18, 2013, following a short illness. Mr. Beman was born on the family farm in Thurman on November 6, 1922, in Gallia County, Ohio, and lived his final years with his daughter and family in Ravenna, Ohio. He was the son of David Morgan Beman and Bernice Regina Safford.

He is survived by his three children, Mary Ann Beman-Nething (Don), Ravenna, Jane Beman, Fraziers Bottom, WV, and Dennis Beman (Tammy), Rio Grande, OH. He is also survived by three grandsons, Drew Beman (Brittany), and Daniel and Benjamin Nething, Ravenna. Local family members include sister-in-law, Naomi Fellure Beman; nieces, Joan Beman and Janet Stephens (Larry); and nephews, Dwight Lloyd (Becky) and Charles Beman (Susan).

On his mother’s side, Luther’s family traced deep roots in Gallia County, directly back to the original settlers who founded Gallipolis. He was raised on the Beman White Oak Farm, which showed Polled Shorthorn cattle and China White hogs at fairs and expositions across the mid-west. His early years included many trips with the livestock to those shows. He attended Ohio State University. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served on the USS Atherton, a destroyer escort in the seas around North Africa. After he returned after the war, he met his future wife, Donna Denney Beman, of Wellston, Ohio, while showing cattle at the Jackson County Fair. They married in 1952.

He was a member of the Simpson Chapel United Methodist Church and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He belonged to the Ohio Rural Letter Carriers Association, where he served as state secretary. He belonged to the Gallipolis Chapter of Parents Without Partners, and the Pt. Pleasant Shrine Club. He was a 32nd Degree Mason and a 50-year member of the Centreville Masonic Lodge #371.

He retired after 37 years from the U.S. Postal Service as a rural carrier for the post offices in Thurman and Oak Hill. After his retirement, he enjoyed his volunteer work at Bossard Library and Holzer Medical Center. He was preceded in death by his parents, in-laws, Frank and Mary (Downard) Denney, brothers, Floyd (Polly) and Fred Beman, sister Ruth Beman Lloyd (John Lloyd), his wife, Donna Denney Beman, and son, Daniel Martin Beman.

A celebration of his life will be held on March 9th at Simpson Chapel United Methodist Church in Rio Grande, Ohio. Calling hours are from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. with services to follow. In lieu of flowers, his family requests that donations be made in his honor to the Cincinnati Shriners Institute Hospital for services to burned children, or Bossard Library.

A private interment will be held.

A website on Caring Bridge has been opened for Luther. People can visit the site, leave comments, condolences and memories. The web address is: http://www.caring bridge.org/visit/lutherbeman. Alternatively, just go to the Caring Bridge.org website. It gives a space to type in the person’s name, i.e., whose site you want to “visit.”