Beverly J. Lueth

Beverly J. Lueth MUSCATINE, Iowa--Beverly J. Lueth, 75, of Muscatine, passed away on Sunday, April 6, 2014 at her home. Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, April 11, 2014, at the Geo. M. Wittich-Lewis Home for Funeral and Cremation Services. Burial will take place in Memorial Park Cemetery. Following the interment a time of food and fellowship will be held at the Geo. M. Wittich-Lewis Community Room. Visitation will be from 9 until 11 a.m. on Friday, April 11, 2014, at the funeral home. Memorials may be directed to the American Heart Association in Beverly's name. Beverly was born on September 14, 1938, in Muscatine, the daughter of Raymond and Rosie Burhop Beh. She attended Shiloh Elementary School and two years at Muscatine High School before moving to Atalissa with her family where she graduated from Atalissa High School. She was active in music, playing piano for school events and first clarinetist with the band and a member of the German Band. She worked for Stanley Engineering Company in the Steno Pool before being promoted to a secretarial position; she was known for the fastest typist in the area and when the IBM Selectric Typewriter became popular s...[more]

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typed too fast for the ball to keep up with her and IBM representatives came to witness this. In 1957, she married Richard Ahrendsen and moved to Olin, where she attended the Zion Lutheran Church and worked as Society Editor for the Anamosa Newspapers. After they divorced she returned to Muscatine and worked at Carver Pump Company in the Payroll Department. In 1960, she married Gary L. Costas and they had one daughter and later divorced. She became insurance secretary and assistant to Dr. Wm. Roudybush for several years before moving to the Quad Cities and working as a Justowriter Operator in the Publications Dept. of J.I. Case Company in Bettendorf. She returned to Muscatine in 1968 when she married Robert Lueth of Muscatine, and she became Plant Secretary for Central Soya Co. After the business closed she worked several years for the Muskie Trading Post as Sales Representative and later joined Bandag, Inc., as Word Processing Supervisor. She completed extensive training at the IBM headquarters in Dallas, Texas, to prepare herself for this position and was instrumental in designing and developing one of one of the best word centers in eastern Iowa which was in its infancy at that time. Five years later she was promoted to Administrative Services Supervisor, a position which she held for eight years. She was responsible for both U.S. and International mail, records retention, telex operation, office supply inventory and janitorial staff and she helped train many young people in their business careers at the company which gave her so much satisfaction and she was very proud of their accomplishments. She was a people person and never met a stranger. She was elected Co-Chairperson of the newly formed Mississippi Valley Postal Customers Council in the Quad Cities representing Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois and organized yearly seminars for postal representatives and business customers and held that position for three terms. For seven years she represented Bandag in the National Postal Customer Council Seminars held bi-yearly at Washington, DC. After leaving Bandag she worked for Attorney John Hintermeister as a Legal Secretary and then returned to Carver Pump Company for seven years as Secretary in the Sales Dept. and attended college courses at MCC on computer applications. After semi-retiring she worked part-time as blueprint computer operator for the new IPSCO Steel Plant at Montpelier, Iowa, and the Muscatine Care Center as assistant to the Administrator handling Secretarial Accounts Payable and Bookkeeping duties. She retired with her husband in 2000 and they spent many years RV'ing in the winter months, usually in Naples, Florida, and Newport Beach, California. She enjoyed music and taking care of the home her husband built for them in 1991 in which she hosted many family events. She is survived by her husband, Robert Lueth of Muscatine; a daughter, Lilith Costas of Hollywood, California; four step-children, Scott Lueth of Letts, Randy Lueth of Muscatine, Brian Lueth and wife, Chantel, of Illinois City, Illinois, and Lori Hepker and husband, Gary, of Muscatine; 14 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; her mother, Rosie Hammann of Muscatine; and several cousins. She was preceded in death by her father in 1977 and her second husband, Gary.