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1927 Beatrice 2025

Beatrice J. Renaud

May 14, 1927 — February 13, 2025

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Beatrice Jean (Butler) Renaud was born May 14, 1927 in Chester, IA, to George Butler and Sarah Mildred (Boal) Butler. Eventually, they moved back to the family farm in Morning Sun, IA to be closer to grandparents. At this time, her only sibling, Virginia Ann, was born. Bee-bee as she was nicknamed, attended school in Morning Sun and graduated from high school in 1944. That same fall, she enrolled at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, IA. She majored in English and Speech/Drama. Freshman year, she was accepted into the Pi Beta Phi sorority and met lifelong friends while living in the sorority house and hosting many Pi Phi formal dances. Beatrice met her future husband, Bernard Renaud in college whom she married in 1949. She graduated from college in 1948.

After graduating from college she took a job at Mount Union, IA as an English teacher. She especially enjoyed directing the junior and senior class plays. She also coached drama and speech and often her students went to competitions at the state level. One time, she coached a team that won the state competition with a one act play called “If men played cards as women do” by George S. Kaufman. She taught there three years.

She retired from teaching in Mount Union to move to Chicago with her husband. While he studied to become an anesthetist, Beatrice studied to become an RN. From there, they moved to Duluth, MN where they worked for a short time in the hospital at St Mary’s. On their way to Seattle to start new jobs, they stopped in Bemidji, MN so her husband could fill in temporarily for an anesthetist position there. It was January – the dead of winter and her first glimpse of Bemidji was wooden huts on the lake struggling against strong winds in hash, subzero temperatures. She had never seen ice fishing houses and worried they might be living in one. They stayed in Bemidji when her husband was offered a full time position. Beatrice taught high school English at Bemidji High School until she started a family. At this time, her two children were born; Carol Joy and James Winston.

She supported her family’s activities including Girl Scout leader and Boy Scout den mother. She loved helping at Think Day, an annual event with girl scouts representing different countries through dance. When her husband bought the Mileage Café in Bemidji, she worked there when needed. It was a lunchtime stop for high school students across the street and a favorite dinner location for the Vikings football team when Bemidji was their summer camp. When her husband and his co-owner brother, George, created Renaud’s Pizza, she helped out there, too.

She worked as a librarian at BSU for four years and was the secretary at Bemidji Greenwood Cemetery for nine years, a fun job since she was interested in genealogy. During that time, Marion Club asked if she would work weekends as manager that the Gold Pine Home in Bemidji. It was a form of managing and a form of nursing. She worked there for five years.

Because of her husband’s membership in the Masonic Lodge, she joined Eastern Star where she was Worthy Matron and head officer of White Shrine. She enjoyed the company of the masonic family, especially creating fun and memorable dinners and events

As a collector of colored Depression Glass and antiques, she attended many auctions and estate sales with her good friend Erma Cooper. One time, they were at opposite ends of a sale and bidding against each other for the same vase without knowing it. Erma passed that lovely vase on to Beatrice before her death.

Beatrice was a freelance writer and had articles printed in American Magazines. Well before ancestry.com, Beatrice had an interest in genealogy; she worked on her family tree and helped others by having an article on genealogy published in McCall’s Magazine. She traced her husband’s ancestry back to Louis Hebert who founded Quebec with Champlain in 1617.

Growing up during WWII shaped Beatrice’s strong patriotism, and her interest in politics led her to become an election judge in Bemidji’s first district. Beatrice was a great reader, especially of detective novels, Shakespeare, Updike, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. “The Great Gatsby” was her favorite because she thought every line was perfection.

She deeply loved her family and spending time with her grandchildren. Beatrice was in her element when planning elaborate birthday parties and other events with great attention to detail.

Beatrice and her husband retired to become snow birds settling in Clayton, NM in winter and Bemidji, MN in summer.

Her fondest memories were of her family’s many lovely Easter vacations in Sanibel. She had a sharp eye and could spot a sea shell in the sand long before anyone else. She had a passion for American History and visited many historical spots such as New England and The Alamo.

She was a master at Canasta, proud of her Scottish/Irish heritage, loved reading about Queen Elizabeth II, and was known for making a mean martini.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Bernard Renaud; parents, George and Sarah Mildred Butler; grandparents, Hanning and Mary Independence Butler, Joseph Dodds Boal and Neddy Kilpatrick; sister, Virginia Niles (Butler) of Tulsa, OK, niece, Pamela (Mike Phariss) of Tulsa OK, two beloved aunts, Jane and Mary Butler of Huron, IA, and a cocker spaniel named Spanky.

Beatrice is survived by her daughter, Carol Renaud (Andrew Kawalec) of Roseville, MN; son, James Renaud of Bemidji, MN; grandchildren, Brandy Renaud (Eric O’Leary), Sabrina Kawalec, Cameron Kawalec; and one great-grandchild Aurora O’Leary.

A Catholic committal service will be held privately at Fort Snelling National Cemetery - a place of beauty, quiet, and honor next to her beloved husband. A memorial service will be held in Bemidji, MN in the summer of 2025.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Beatrice J. Renaud, please visit our flower store.

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