Funeral services for Beth L. Livingston, age 98 of Heuvelton will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday (April 5, 2024) at the Fox & Murray Funeral Home in Ogdensburg.
Calling hours will also be held on Friday from 11:00am until the time of the service. Interment will be at Riverside Cemetery, Gouverneur alongside her parents. Beth passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of April 1st at the Samaritan Summit Village in Watertown after a day with family.
Surviving are three sons and their families, Lee and Pamela Livingston of Norfolk, VA, Karl and Tracey Livingston of Heuvelton, and Gerry Livingston of Heuvelton; five grandchildren, Katie, Tatiana, Jennifer, Nathan and Noah; four great-grandchildren Dahlia, Emma, Brodie & Landon and several nieces and nephews.
Beth was predeceased by her former husband, Gerald, in 2001, three sisters, Mary Wicks and Doris Cring of Harrisville, and Claire Miller of Ogdensburg, and four brothers, Leland, Charles, Walter, and Karl Parker of Gouverneur. A fifth brother died in infancy.
Born Beth Lucille Parker June 24, 1925, in Gouverneur, Beth was the youngest of nine children born to Charles Parker and Bertha Howard. She grew up in the Town of Fowler where she enjoyed family, reading, gardening, and outdoor sports. Through her teen years she enjoyed skating, picking berries, family outings on the south shore of Sylvia Lake, which her family held for four generations, and the chaperoned dances at the Gouverneur High School when, in the early 1940’s, young soldiers were bussed in from nearby Pine Camp (now Fort Drum). One of her greatest pleasures throughout her life, however, was swimming, which she pursued into her early 90’s at every possible opportunity.
As a child, Beth survived Scarlet Fever and experienced family and neighbors helping one another during the Great Depression. In the fall of 1941, her family was one of over 500 families displaced by the expansion of Pine Camp in the days leading up to WW II and watched as nearly every young man in her graduating class was called to war. Her parents relocated to the Town of Oswegatchie, but she remained in Balmat with her brother and his wife to finish her senior year at Gouverneur High School. She graduated in 1942 a few days shy of her 17th birthday.
Although she dreamed of continuing her education, life intervened and Beth joined many other local area women to work at the Cleveland Container Co. in Ogdensburg during the war years to fabricate cardboard containers used to ship munitions. The war ended in September 1945. Beth married Gerald Livingston of Heuvelton on November 17th in Ogdensburg the same year. Although initially settling in Lisbon, they relocated to their beloved farm on the Oswegatchie River outside of Heuvelton in 1951 where they raised three sons. In 1962 they purchased a failing sawmill and millworks in the village of Heuvelton to create the Heuvelton Lumber Co. which, over the next 20+ years, employed many and served a wide community. Beth served as the company’s accountant, attending night school, and working closely with Federal, State, and other officials to gain the skills needed.
Throughout it all, Gerald and Beth remained active within the Wesleyan Methodist and Methodist Churches in Heuvelton and Galilee, worked tirelessly to maintain their home and farm, and enjoyed their life on the Oswegatchie and their various travels across the U.S. Beth loved her vegetable and flower gardens, and although she claimed she learned to cook only after she was married, her simple country meals were renowned. Her most sought-after dish, perhaps, was her apple pies made from the Duchess apples grown on the farm.
Beth was particularly proud of her Parker heritage and her family’s longtime connection to Gouverneur. Her great-great grandparents, both children of Revolutionary War veterans, arrived from New Hampshire and settled along the south shore of Black Lake in about 1808. Her great-grandfather, John Lee Parker, and grandfather, DeElbert Parker, in turn, were longtime residents of the village of Gouverneur and the nearby area. They and their descendants were successful farmers, entrepreneurs, professional and skilled workers who owned businesses and homes and have long been a part of Gouverneur’s history.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Claxton Hepburn Foundation, 214 King Street, Ogdensburg, NY 13669. Condolences and fond memories can be shared online at www.foxandmurrayfuneralhome.com.