Long-time Eutaw church secretary retires after 45 years

Nell Beeker recently retired as secretary of Eutaw Baptist Church after 45 years of service. The congregation honored Beeker with a luncheon and a special program where she was presented with an engraved silver bowl. A proclamation was presented citing Beeker’s faithful dedication as secretary, bookkeeper and church administrator.
   
Beeker has served as secretary to 10 pastors. The two-day-a-week job eventually turned into a full-time position. “I would practice typing Scriptures because we didn’t accept more than two corrections on a manual typewriter. My job was to type the bulletin and church minutes. The church had a hand-turned mimeograph machine, and a highlight in my career was the day we purchased a copying machine,” said Beeker.
   
Since 1996, she has been using a computer. Beeker may have started her job typing, but after 45 years, this soft-spoken lady had a part in every major function of the church. “I have tried to do anything that was needed, and I have had a part in many things — except the preaching,” said Beeker. She has also kept a history of the church that is located in the church library.
   
Winnie Aldridge, the wife of former pastor Titus Aldridge said, “I have never known a better secretary. Nell was faithful, loyal and worked tirelessly. She always did more than was required.”
   
Eutaw Baptist represented more than a job to Beeker. Her parents were members of the church and she has attended the church her entire life. Beeker and her husband, Chris, were married there, and they raised their five children in the church. “I have never lived farther than a mile away from the church, and everything that I have done at the church has been such a joy,” said Beeker.
   
She is also using her home for ministry, taking Southern hospitality to a new level. After her children were grown, Beeker converted an extra bedroom into “the prophet room.” The Beekers have provided visiting ministers, missionaries and Christian professors with food and overnight accommodations.
The current pastor of Eutaw Baptist, Roy Sanford, appreciates Beeker’s dedication.
   
“I have known Mrs. Beeker to stay after hours to complete a project because she is so conscientious that she doesn’t want anything to go undone in the church,” he said. “She had wanted to retire a year earlier, but the former pastor had resigned and she decided to stay and make the transition easier. Her dedication certainly helped me when I became the pastor here.”