Some of those who worked closely with Ruth Beckman in her nearly 35 years as director of the Joint Organization for Inner-City Needs (JOIN) recall her as “a force for good” and “one of the greatest ladies I ever knew.”

Beckman, 88, died on Friday, Dec. 22. Her funeral Mass was on Friday, Dec. 29 at Columbus Christ the King Church.

In addition to her work with JOIN, she was a member of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre and the Serra Club of Downtown Columbus and was active in many other organizations. The University of Dayton honored her with its Distinguished Alumni award in 2018.

She had been an active volunteer at her home parish and Columbus Bishop Hartley when she was hired as JOIN director in 1984. She continued in that position until retiring in 2015 to take care of her husband, John “Jack” Beckman, whom she married on Aug. 24, 1957 and who died on Dec. 20, 2019.

She had been a volunteer at her parish and Columbus Bishop Hartley High School for many years when the late Father Thomas Cadden, diocesan Catholic Charities director at the time, asked her to come to work for JOIN in 1981.

JOIN is a social services agency, originally established in 1967 by 10 Columbus inner-city parishes, that now serves all of Franklin County. It provides material needs and referrals to thousands of low-income families each year from an office at 578 E. Main St. in Columbus that it shares with the diocesan St. Vincent de Paul Society’s clothing center.

Beckman served three Columbus bishops as JOIN director – the late Bishop Edward Herrmann, who retired in 1983; Bishop James Griffin, the diocese’s shepherd from 1983 to 2004; and Bishop Frederick Campbell from 2005 until her retirement in 2015 to care for her husband of 62 years, Jack Beckman, who died in 2019.

“One of the most significant things that occurred in my time as bishop was JOIN’s move from a small office near St. Joseph Cathedral to the building on Main Street,” said Bishop Campbell, who has remained in Columbus since his retirement from full-time ministry in 2019. “It was quite a move and she handled it beautifully.

“From the minute we opened the building, we realized how much we needed to make the move. It gave JOIN about double the space it had and enabled it to do so much more for so many people.

“As a person, Ruth was one of the most enjoyable people to be with,” Bishop Campbell said. “I was amazed by her organizational skills and how she could draw people into helping her. 

“She was a person of great compassion, and added to that was a great power of discernment to see just what it was that people needed. She also had the ability to sniff out when something was not right. She was persistent in pursuing her plans, with a deep sense of charity.

“Also, she never lost her sense of pursuing every little detail. I remember once asking her if she would accept a contribution of pocket change because it was all I had with me. She said, ‘Of course! I can use it to buy bus passes.’ That was Ruth – always able to find a use for something.”

Beckman served Bishop Griffin during all his 21 years as bishop of Columbus. “Ruth was one of the greatest ladies I ever knew,” he said.

“I recall well all the times I used to slip across the alley from the Chancery to see Ruth. It would be a form of meditation just to stand or sit quietly and watch her at work. It was a wonderful thing, seeing the words of Jesus about feeding the hungry, healing the sick and clothing the naked come alive.

“You could see by watching her that she served people by being Jesus to them. I would go back to the office having a new appreciation for those words, and I think that after Ruth died, the first words Jesus said to her were ‘I was hungry and you fed me’ and so forth,” said Bishop Griffin, who has lived in Powell in the 20 years since his retirement.

Lisa Keita succeeded Beckman as JOIN director and has been in that position for nine years. “Ruth Beckman is the mentor that everyone should be so fortunate to have,” Keita said. “Ruth saw everyone she served in the same light, and that was the light of Christ.  

“The neighbors we serve at JOIN are from all walks of life. We see neighbors who are the consequence of generational poverty. We serve families who have a higher education and had good jobs until that job was lost or they became ill and couldn't work. We also serve our brothers and sisters in the middle, those who fell on hard times when their car broke down and they missed a few days of work and had to pay for the car to be fixed.  

“Ruth saw each person as the individual they were and treated them with dignity and respect. Ruth lived her faith with each breath she took, not just as a Catholic but also in her personal relationship with God. She loved Him and loved all He made. Having Ruth as my mentor and friend was a blessing that carries me through each day.”

“Ruth was a force for good in our community,” said Mark Huddy, diocesan moderator of Catholic Charities. “She had a tremendous sense of compassion for anyone in need, and that compassion was informed by that increasingly rare quality called common sense. 

“Ruth acted out of her experience as a mother. She loved fiercely and she had the discernment to know when someone was not being fully forthcoming about their situation.  

“Ruth, in her years of service, developed many relationships within the Catholic community which she was not shy about using to help a needy client.

“Ruth trusted in God and God rewarded her for that trust. If she needed something to help a client, she would pray about it and suddenly it would appear from a donor who knew nothing about the particular need,” Huddy said. 

“Like a mother, she cared deeply about her staff, her clients, her family and the Church. We have sent home an unrepeatable gift from God. May she rest in peace.”

Beckman, born on July 31, 1935 in Miamisburg, was preceded in death by her parents, Louis and Aline Wyen; husband; brother, Louise Wyen; and sister, Frances Thiele.

Survivors include sons, John and James; daughters, Jeanette (James) Kuschill, Marjorie (Brad) Luckhart, Mary (Richard) O’Mara, Marilyn (Scott) Wilson, Jacinta Beckman and Bernadette (Patrick) McGurk; brother, Fred Wyen; sister, Theresa Lauer; 25 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Beckman’s eight children request that any memorial donations be sent to the John and Ruth Beckman Family Foundation, which supports JOIN and the Serra Club of Downtown Columbus, of which she was a member. Donations may be sent to The Catholic Foundation, 257 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215.ew