On Sunday, June 21, 2020 Russell Wayne Beasley, loving husband and Papa, passed away at home in Nassau Bay, TX at the age of 88.
Russ was born on December 1, 1931 in Montezuma, KS to Kenneth E. and Gladys O. (Cordrey) Beasley the fourth of five children. Early years were spent in Parsons, Newton, and Topeka, KS where he graduated from Topeka High School. After four years as a statistician in the U.S. Air Force, he received his B.S. in Business from the University of Kansas in Lawrence with membership in the academic honor society Beta Gamma Sigma. He was granted his CPA certificate in 1960. He practiced as a Controller, VP Finance, and Chief Financial Officer in corporate America for 26 years for Frito Lay, PepsiCo, Oceaneering International, Raymond International and Creole International. In 1984 he decided to use his wealth of experience conducting business in over 50 countries to set out on his own with a consulting practice, R2 International, from which he retired after 17 adventurous years.
He was a quiet man, a thinker, but also a man who could capture attention with his interesting stories. And he was musical having played a 30-pound double b-flat wraparound sousaphone in the Salvation Army Band and in high school as a 120-pound teen. He loved relaxing with a novel every night, sailing on Galveston Bay in his beloved “China Doll” and travel. Those travels always included his ever-present Maltese dogs (Brandy, Fozzie, Curley, Moe, Brutus, and Caesar) whether in an SUV or motorhome. Every road trip included visits to family from coast to coast. He liked to plan trips to Europe in May or November. Later in life he found the solitude of bird watching and the bottomless pit of genealogy to hold his interest. His life was one well lived and far more accomplished than he might have imagined as a young man.
Russ was preceded in death by his father and mother, sisters Betty and June, brothers Kenneth and Everett, his daughter Cheri, and granddaughter April. He is survived by his daughter Denise Cernosek of Austin, several nephews, one niece, four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, three great-great grandchildren, and his wife of 34 years, Gail J. Ferris.
Interment will take place at Houston National Cemetery on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 11:15 am. Please no flowers. The family requests donations to the Salvation Army Greater Houston Area Command, 1500 Austin St., Houston, TX 77002; Parkinson’s Foundation; or The Michael J. Fox Foundation.