Beatrice Pearle Rice passed away peacefully in Cottonwood, AZ on April 15, 2022. She was 98 years of age. Bea was born to Frederick and Christine Mueller on February 17, 1924 in Winner, South Dakota. She graduated from Watertown, SD High School. After graduation she moved to Ogden, UT to be with her father who had found work there. Bea worked at the Ogden Arsenal where she helped in the manufacture of ammunition for the war. She won a beauty contest there and was honored as Arsenal Queen.
Bea married H. Vere Talbot on Nov 19, 1944. They had five children: Monte, Rod (Rocky), Connie, Brian and Ben. After their marriage they lived in Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Colorado.
Bea and Ted found each other later in life in Denver, CO. They were married May 27, 1978, in Littleton, Colorado and soon after moved to Arizona where Bea was employed by Nortstan Communications for many years. She was a very proficient bookkeeper and a greatly appreciated office manager. As retirees Bea and Ted loved spending time with their grandchildren and amongst other things taught them how to play a card game named baseball. It was a family favorite. She loved entertaining family members with frequent meals. When they didn’t have visitors, Bea and Ted had regular, highly competitive games of cribbage with each other. They led a happy and wonderful life as best friends and sweethearts. They thoroughly enjoyed camping with their “Happy Campers” RV group, and also loved going on cruises from which they had numerous, wonderful and lasting memories.
Bea is survived by her sister Patricia Bowman, Wrightstown, NJ; four children from her marriage with Vere Talbot: Monte (Patti Moore) of Mesa, AZ: Connie (Richard Howden) Herriman, UT; Brian (Rosemary Sogers) Chandler, AZ; and Ben (Joyce Hedrick) Cottonwood, AZ; Two step-children from her marriage with Ted: Robert Rice, Aurora, CO and Susan Lust, Austin, TX. She is also survived by 15 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.
Bea was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Jack, Wallis and Hugo and her sisters June and Margaret (Peggy), her husband Ted Rice and her son Rocky.
A family service will be held in the Serenity Chapel at Greenwood Memorial Lawn Cemetery, 2300 W Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ at 1:00pm on Sunday, May 1, 2022.
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