Beach, Robert Glenn 

81 1/29/1929 3/12/2010 Robert G. Beach was born in Long 
Beach, Calif., to Wayne and Charlotte Beach. His family lived 
various places during his childhood including Seattle; Oakland, 
Calif.; Bonneville; Grand Coulee, Wash.; Republic, Wash.; and 
Redding and Catalina Island, Calif. Eventually the family 
moved to Portland, where he graduated from Roosevelt High 
School in 1947. At age 15, he began working in the grocery 
business, bagging potatoes. He continued working after high 
school at Bales Thriftway, later becoming store manager. He 
transferred to Oregon City Thriftway in 1965, and then to West 
Linn Thriftway where he was the wine buyer. He enjoyed 
helping customers with their wine selections. He retired from 
the grocery business in 1994 after 50 years. Remarkably, he 
only missed one day of work during that time. In 1967 he met 
Millie while they were working together. They were married in 
1970, combining his family of four children and her family of 
five children. They built their dream home in 1988 in Oregon 
City. They purchased their first RV in 1994, began traveling 
and were active with their RV group, "Sweet Old Buddies." Later 
they sold their home and lived full-time in the motor coach for 
four years, spending winters in Big River, Calif., and summers 
as camp hosts in various Oregon state parks. In April 2009, 
they purchased a home and lived in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. 
Robert was a quiet, gentle person who loved children and 
animals. He was a courageous man who married a woman with 
five children and helped her raise them. Family vacations were 
spent at the beach with the nine children. He also enjoyed 
vegetable and flower gardening. He was an expert cook, and 
loved dining, fine wines and good cigars. Robert enjoyed 
walking in the desert along the Colorado River at Rio Del Sol 
RV Haven. The Oregon coast was also a favorite place for him. 
Survivors include his wife of 40 years, Millie Beach; his sister, 
Marilyn Caufman; sisters and brothers-in law, Shirley and Sam 
Flye and Nona and Gene Philipsen; children, Debra, Wayne, 
Inez, Jim, Michelle, Michel, Mark, Mat and Marty; 20 
grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. A service will be 
held at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 18, 2010, in the chapel at 
Riverview Abbey Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations 
may be made to the Oregon Humane Society or a charity of 
your choice.

Published in The Oregonian on March 17, 2010