Vernon Beauchamp

VERNON CRAIG BEAUCHAMP, 77, slipped quietly from this world into the next on the afternoon of May 22, 2024, surrounded by love and grace.  Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, 2024, at Dossman Funeral Home Chapel in Belton; followed by burial with military honors at Greathouse Cemetery in Temple.  Visitation will be during the hour preceding the service.

Vernon was born on December 3, 1946, in Lawton, Oklahoma; the second son of James Waid Beauchamp and Addie Parlee Owen Beauchamp.  Since his father was in the Army, Vernon lived many different places growing up, including three years in Germany, but he always called Belton, Texas, his home.

Vernon spent three years in the United States Army, one of which as a combat engineer in Vietnam.  Vernon was drafted shortly after high school, but actually enjoyed being in the military and gave serious thought to staying in; however, since he was also very interested in architecture, he came home, went to Texas State Technical Institute and earned his degree in Architectural Design.

He first worked for an architect in North Carolina and then came back home to Texas.  With Hudson Engineers, in Houston, he was involved in the design of a variety of large projects, including hotels, churches, oil rig platforms, and shopping malls.  During one project where he was sent to Dubai to supervise the actual construction, he discovered that he enjoyed the building of the projects even more than the design.  He switched to construction and spent the next forty-plus years building high-rises, prisons, malls, school complexes, college facilities, and presidential libraries.

In 1980, Vernon met and married Carolyn Peterson Cromer and they raised their six daughters together in Belton, Texas.

Vernon enjoyed hunting and fishing all his life; getting into tournament bass fishing in his later life, which he especially enjoyed.  And he loved remodeling houses - which he did to every house he lived in.  He enjoyed playing dominoes and cards, and having get-togethers with family and friends.

Vernon was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.  He was a very social person and he enjoyed spending time at the Belton VFW with some of his boyhood friends and many new ones; but always, all of his life, his family came first.

Unfortunately, Vernon had severe problems that developed from his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, and, as he grew older, they began to become debilitating.  He spent his last years at William R. Courtney Texas State Veterans Home in Temple, where he received excellent care.

Vernon was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Clinton Waid Beauchamp; two daughters, Julie Ann Cromer and Patricia “Tish” Cotham; one nephew, Robert Beauchamp; and many beloved aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Carolyn Beauchamp; his daughters, Robin (Lewis) Boren, Elizabeth (Robert) Churchill; Sharon Rainer; and Reyna Beauchamp.  He is also survived by eleven grandchildren Zach (Erin) Boren, Michael Brewer, Samantha (Spencer) Chandler, Haley Braun, Nathan Cotham, Ashley Rainer, Cynthia Churchill, Seth Osborne-Churchill, Katelyn Churchill, Liam Beauchamp, and Caroline Beauchamp; and four great-grandchildren, Noah Brewer, Carter Boren, Tate Oatley, and Everley Churchill.  Also, two nephews, Richard Beauchamp and Ryan Keith Beauchamp; and special ‘double cousins’ Brad (Dondi) Whigham, Julie (Jeff) Whitney, Lori Page, and Amy (Danny) Cvetovich.

Memorials, if desired, may be made to Wounded Warriors, Gary Sinise Foundation, Shriners Hospital, or any homeless shelter or  veterans help organization.