Obituary of Ronald D. “Curly” Beers

Ronald D. “Curly” Beers passed away on January 13, 2016 in Melbourne, Fl after a short illness. He was born on February 19, 1927 in Endwell, NY. Curly was married to Betty Millham Beers (originally from Johnson City, NY) for more than 62 years until her death in 2012. After serving on the Liberty ships in the Atlantic & Pacific with the Merchant Marine in WW2, Curly began a long career at IBM. Starting at their manufacturing facility in Endicott, NY, he transferred to the Cape and worked in the Apollo program, helping to put men on the moon. Subsequently, he worked on IBM projects such as designing cruise missile navigation systems as well as being part of the R&D team on IBM's personal computer project in Boca Raton in the early 1980's, after which he happily entered retirement. He spent the bulk of his 33 year retirement sailing and doing projects for friends in homes, offices and on boats. Curly was also predeceased by two sons, Rick (in 1996) and Ron (in 2006), and is survived by 4 sons: Mike (Penny) of Silverdale, WA; Jim (Debbi) of Chattanooga, TN; Dennis (Phannee) of Edgewood, KY; Tom (Kathy) of Palm Bay, FL.; 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. A Celebration of Curly's life will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Melbourne, FL on Saturday, February 4 at 11:00 AM; immediately followed by inurnment with Veteran's Honors at Florida Memorial Gardens in Rockledge, after which a reception with friends and family will be held at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Melbourne.