Remembering Beth Gilbert

A few years ago, I was picking up a prescription at the 15th Street Walmart when a woman who appeared to be in her late 30s or early 40s came from the back room, with a big smile covering her face and said, "Mr. Turner, Mr. Turner!"

Usually, when someone addresses me like that, it's either a former student, a parent of one of my former students or someone serving me with a subpoena.

The woman looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place her, and she realized that.

"I was one of your first students," she said.

That didn't seem quite right. At that point, my first students from the 1999-2000 school year at Diamond Middle School were in their early to mid-20s, much younger than this woman.

Then it all clicked.

"Beth!" I said. She couldn't believe I recognized her. After all, it had been more than 30 years since I last saw her.

She was one of my first students at Diamond, but not during the 1999-2000 school year. Beth Greer was one of the students in my seventh grade social studies class for nine weeks when I did my student teaching at Diamond Junior High School in the spring of 1981.

I don't remember many of the students from that time. More than four decades have passed and I only had them in class for a short time but Beth always stood out.

Not only was she one of the best students in the class, but she was funny, energetic and had a knack for saying things that made everyone smile and sometimes laugh out loud.

I only had a few minutes to talk with her, but that brief conversation brought back good memories.

When students left my classroom on the last day of the school year, or in the case of Beth on the last day of my student teaching, I often never see them again. When I do, it is always a pleasure when I can see that they've done well in life.

I didn't know until yesterday that when I ran into Beth Gilbert (her married name), she was a few years into a battle with the cancer that claimed her life Sunday at age 56.

As I read her obituary yesterday, I learned that Beth not only lived up to her potential but far surpassed it. From her younger days as valedictorian of her high school graduating class, a starter on DHS state volleyball championship teams and a volleyball player at Missouri Southern to her career as a pharmacist, wife, mother and grandmother, she made the most of her time on this earth.

Beth was a joy to our extended family with her generous, compassionate personality. She was talented in music, poetry, creative ballooning and crochet art. She was a game leader at gatherings and the life of the party when we watched K.C. Chiefs football games on television.

The life of the party. That description seems just right. She always brought life into that seventh grade classroom 44 years ago, a bundle of energy with so much to accomplish and so much joy to share.
That was the way Beth lived and though she'll be deeply missed by those who had the good fortune to know her, she left enough smiles to last forever.