GOSHEN, Ind. – Atlee Beechy donned many caps during his life, but was perhaps most recognized in recent years by the light blue "Seniors for Peace" T-shirt he often wore. For Beechy, who died at 7:25 p.m. Dec. 31, the quest for peace started long before he was a senior and lasted a lifetime.

Beechy’s death at Goshen General Hospital followed a bout with cancer. Born in Berlin, Ohio, on Oct. 27, 1914, to Katie and George Beechy, he married Winifred Nelson May 24, 1941, in Goshen. She survives with three daughters, Karen Kreider of Royersford, Pa., Judy Beechy of Goshen and Susan Enz of Bordentown, N.J.; and six grandchildren. His recently completed memoirs, "Seeking Peace: My Journey," will be published later this month.

Beechy’s career at Goshen College and with Mennonite Central Committee, Civilian Public Service, Vietnam Christian Service and China Educational Exchange, took him across the world, not just preaching peace, but working to create it.

Goshen College president Shirley H. Showalter said both Beechy and his wife Winifred have been mentors, friends and teachers for the college and world community.

Beechy, Showalter said, "spread ‘unrationed grace’ the way Johnny Appleseed spread apples. He was a stellar example of both the local and the cosmopolitan peacemaker — firmly rooted in Mennonite and Goshen College soil and yet he was constantly praying for and concerned about those who suffered in other places around the world. In that, he is an example of the very highest aspirations of the GC motto, ‘Culture for Service.’"

Beechy’s staunch determination to work for peace was evident even in his youth. In a 1932 essay composed for Goshen College professor John Umble, later printed in the Christian Monitor, the 18-year-old Beechy wrote, "Christian churches must be an example and carry out the principles which the Prince of Peace has left for us to follow. The churches of every nation must teach their people that war is crime, the utter denial of the principles for which they stand."

Beechy began serving soon after he graduated from Goshen College in 1935 and earned a master’s degree in education from Ohio State University in 1940, where he received a doctorate in counseling psychology in 1958. He taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Holmes County, Ohio, and later in the Columbus, Ohio, public school system. From 1943 to 1946, he and Winifred participated in Civilian Public Service assignments in Pennsylvania and South Dakota.

Following World War II, Beechy served as European director of the MCC Relief and Refugee program before returning to Goshen College in 1949. During his educational career, Beechy was dean of students, director of counseling services and professor of education, psychology and peace studies, helping found the college’s peace program.

J. Lawrence Burkholder, Goshen College president emeritus, reflected on Beechy’s life in an interview with the Elkhart (Ind.) Truth newspaper. "He was interested in helping students rather than ‘throwing the book’ at them," Burkholder said. "I think he was a very fine educator, counselor and teacher, but he placed everything in an international perspective. … He at least did not flinch or give up in the face of all the problems we have in this world."

Beechy’s focus on the world included a long association with MCC, including serving on its executive committee from 1961 to 1982. Beechy traveled to Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America and the Middle East on short-term MCC assignments. In 1966, Beechy directed Vietnam Christian Service, an inter-Protestant relief and refugee program; he and Winifred later wrote "Vietnam: Who Cares?" published by Herald Press, about their experiences in the Asian country.

John Lapp, executive secretary of Mennonite Central Committee emeritus, and former Goshen College dean and provost, said Beechy was an encourager of others, passionate for peace and remarkable for his half-century of overlapping work at Goshen College and MCC.

"I don’t think it’s possible to talk about the history of either institution from the ’40s on without in some way touching Atlee … and it’s hard to talk about Atlee without talking about Winifred," Lapp said.

"Atlee was the maker of a circle of friends because he was the friend," Lapp continued. "He was a profoundly religious, Christian person, deeply devoted to the Christian way, the Sermon on the Mount. He oozed the oil of human kindness and divine love wherever he was, where they were."

The Beechys led Goshen students in the first Study-Service Term programs in Poland in 1974 and China in 1980. That China experience led Beechy to help create China Educational Exchange, which he directed in 1981-1982 and continued on as program consultant through 1999. Beechy also was a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Allahabad in India and a consultant at Satya Wacuna University in Indonesia during sabbatical leaves from the college.

Beechy co-founded Seniors for Peace, a group which worked to harness the skills and energies of retirees and senior citizens to work for peace, in 1987. A decade later, the Beechys received the Mennonite Church’s first "Keep the Faith, Share the Peace" recognition created to recognize people who have lived for peace.

Clair Hochstetler, Goshen General Hospital chaplain, was with the Beechys during Atlee’s last days. Beechy’s devout Christian witness continued to the end, Hochstetler said, as he sang and worshiped with family members, offering a personal blessing to each of them, the day before his death.

"Atlee showed us all how to live with grace, dignity and a passion for peace — and he is now … a model for dying well, just as he lived," said Hochstetler, who was flooded with positive messages about Beechy after he posted a death announcement on MennoLink.

Beechy was a member of College Mennonite Church.

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