Pulling Out All Stops

For more than thirty-five years, bishops in the Mountain View Second Ward, in the Salt Lake Hillside Stake, have never had to worry about an organist for sacrament meeting. Lou Beesley has been on the bench regularly—or has arranged for a substitute.

Monday mornings find Sister Beesley again at the organ, this time in the Salt Lake Temple, where she plays the chapel organ for those awaiting a session. On Monday evenings, Sister Beesley is busy with the Wasatch Community Orchestra—playing the violin. Arthritis has twisted her fingers, but her tone is still clear and right on pitch, as is her tenor voice in the ward choir.

Music is not this busy lady’s only love. Five mornings a week at 6:00 A.M., you’ll find her swimming her daily mile. She’s easy to spot: look for a snorkel, fins, goggles, and an athletic swimsuit. Once a week, she volunteers at the University Hospital delivering mail, always with a smile and a cheery greeting.

A widow for the past six years, Sister Beesley maintains her own home—from stringing outside Christmas lights to planting flowers in the spring. In the summer, she especially likes to invite family and friends to share her yard for fun and food.

She enjoys doing needlepoint work and shares these with her three daughters and others. “I promised to finish by Christmas a piece of needlepoint to cover a piano bench for one of my daughters,” she says, smiling as she remembers, “but I had it all ready by June, so I gave it to her early.” That’s how she does things.

An ordinary person doing ordinary things? Maybe so. But Sister Beesley will be eighty-four in March.—Mary Lou Strasser, Bountiful, Utah