Doris Varnell Beesley, age 71, of Springfield, passed away Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at her home following a five-year battle with cancer.
Funeral services will be held Monday, October 18, 2021 at 12 pm at the Main Street Church of Christ with Brother Joe Rushing and Barry Throneberry officiating. Burial will follow in the Springfield Memorial Gardens with Jim Gray, Tony Webster, Bobby Pitt, Marty Neal, Gary Gill, Joe Gordon, and Jesse Parham serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers are Walter Pruitt, the Main Street Church of Christ Nursery Teachers and former Teachers, and the former Robertson County School Librarians.
Visitation will be held at the church on Sunday, October 17, 2021 from 2-6 pm and again on Monday from 10 am until the hour of service at 12 Noon.
Growing up in Jackson she graduated from Jackson High School in 1968 and attended David Lipscomb University in Nashville where she graduated in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She completed a Master’s Degree in early childhood education at Tennessee Technological University in 1980. Doris was employed right out of college as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher with the Robertson County Schools where she worked for 46 years. She taught classes at North Robertson, Cheatham Park, and Bransford Elementary Schools and spent the last 30 years of her career as the librarian at Westside Elementary School. In 1986 she married then local radio announcer Tom Beesley, and they spent 35 years together as a couple. Doris was a member of the Main Street church of Christ in Springfield where she served for more than 20 years as the supervisor of the church’s nursery department. Her love of teaching children began as a teenage Bible School teacher in Jackson. Known for her superior organizational skills, Doris also helped supervise the church’s education supply room and chaired several of the congregation’s Ladies Retreats in the 1980s and 1990s.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her grandparents Willie Paul and Ivylynn Brown, an uncle: Wilson Brown, and an aunt: Marguerite Wilson all of Jackson
Mrs. Beesley is survived by her husband, Tom Beesley; mother-in-law, Shirley Beesley of Murfreesboro; sisters-in-law, Kay (Bobby) Pitt of Norene, TN and Lisa (Marty) Neal of Rockvale, TN; uncle, Stanley Lee Brown of Jackson, TN; dear friends, Beverly Webster of Springfield and Belvia Pruitt of Smyrna; 6 nieces and nephews; and 12 great-nieces and nephews.
If so desired memorial contributions may be made to the Main Street Church of Christ Building Fund, the Churches of Christ Disaster Fund, the Westside Elementary School Library, or the Potters Children’s Home. Any donations may be sent in c/o Austin & Bell.
Austin & Bell Funeral Home in Springfield is in charge of these arrangements.
AUSTIN & BELL FUNERAL HOME-509 WALNUT STREET, SPRINGFIELD, TN (615) 384-1000
