Sheryl Beck

John Walter Beck, age 80, passed away at home on September 13th, 2025, surrounded by family, after a short illness.

Sheryl Harper Beck, age 81, passed away at home on September 26, 2025, surrounded by family, after several months of struggling with her health.

John was born on September 30, 1944, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Helen and Walter Beck. John, along with his older sister Jean, grew up in Madison.

Sheryl Harper, was born on May 7, 1944, in Evanston, Illinois, to Richard and Jeanne Harper, who moved to Wisconsin when Sheryl was very young and she also grew up in Madison, along with her sister Janet.

John and Sheryl attended the same high school and graduated in 1962, but didn’t meet until after high school. They were introduced by a mutual friend in 1965 while John was a student at the University of Wisconsin. The two married in June of 1966, and celebrated 59 years of marriage this June.

Sheryl and John joyfully welcomed their children Chris and Matt while they lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where John had taken his first job at ExxonMobil as an engineer. John spent his 33+ year career at ExxonMobil in both Billings and Baton Rouge, and was happy he was able to spend most of his working years in Montana, where the family embraced the outdoor lifestyle. At work, John was known for his fierce dedication to his team, always advocating for others. Mom was a homemaker and enjoyed cooking and caring for everyone. She loved having a hearty dinner prepared and served at the table each night for the family to enjoy together. John retired from Exxon in 1999.

John was a loving father; he offered a steadying hand on the hiking trail, or a pair of binoculars to an insomniac star gazer. He picked up numerous used cars when the drive shaft or the rear axle inexplicably yet inevitably fell off the boys’ vehicle. . .again. He was often the first person Chris or Matt called to mark the high and low points of life.

John and Sheryl relished Montana life. For decades John and his sons and his dogs ventured into the woods to hunt and fish small game and birds. He cooked legendary campfire breakfasts during family fishing trips on the Boulder River. Friends remember John shooing off bears from the camp site with a pair of pistols, Wild Bill Hickock style. Driving any size RV or truck, he was dauntless when a tire blew, and with one hand on the steering wheel, he was amazing when reversing the rig into a tight spot. In the snow, John would delight a carful of kids by hitting the perfect brodie on the first right-hand turn on Toole Court.

Sheryl was eager to serve as John’s co-pilot, literally and figuratively. For a short while in the early 1980s, John earned his private pilot’s license, and Sheryl frequently sat in the co-pilot’s seat with the maps in hand to help navigate. Driving on long road trips, she did the same.

John and Sheryl enjoyed spending time with family and friends, playing cards, laughing, and eating at many different restaurants. There were many evenings through the years that the two of them spent time together at home listening to music and dancing together in the living room. They were also regular church goers and attended St. Bernard’s Catholic Church.

John and Sheryl passionately leaned into the roles of Grandparents. During yearly summer vacations in Alaska with the granddaughters, John started each morning with pancake breakfast in their trailer. He passed his love of fishing to the girls by pulling a canoe out onto the lawn to teach them how to cast; he ran back and forth as the ‘fish’ they had to snag. He had a sharp wit and an unmatched talent (and enthusiasm) for winning card games, born from family bridge games teaming up with his older sister, Jean, against their parents. As recently as this past summer, John relearned dominoes to schallack his unsuspecting son Chris and wife Isabelle, who relocated back to Billings in July. 

John loved to laugh, and was appreciated as a kind and dedicated friend who would not only lend a tool but also the time to help finish whatever the job was. He loved to be active through travel and sports: He and Sheryl enjoyed multiple ski trips to Austria, but he equally loved to meet up at the Bierstube on Red Lodge Mountain after a morning of ski runs. He also loved to golf with his close friends, and even when his swing wasn’t so good, spending time with the guys filled him with joy and provided hours of storytelling about their adventures together on the course. More recently, he spent his time doing work around the yard with his friend and neighbor Faith, who he fondly referred to as “his one and only employee”, growing tomatoes, filling bird feeders or fiddling with the continuously malfunctioning sprinkler system, soaking Chris as a favorite prank.

John and Sheryl are survived by their sisters, Jean Moore and Janet Harper; their two sons, Chris (Isabelle) and Matthew (Teresa); their three beloved granddaughters (Julia, Olivia, and Maria) and one grandson (Linus).

The family will hold a remembrance weekend in Madison, Wisconsin in October 10-12 and a Funeral at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Billings on November 14 at 11 a.m., followed by a luncheon in the parish hall. 

The family wishes to thank the teams at Compassus and Cornerstone for their deep compassion and support of the entire Beck family before and during the final days of John and Sheryl, particularly Kelsy, Ashley, Desiree, Jessica, and Kitty.

John’s kind, funny, determined, loving, hard-working heart will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. 

Once John died, Sheryl was ready to be with him in the next life. In many ways, it’s seen as a blessing that they died so closely to one another.