Beryl Weems

Beryl Jadel Weems, 71, Topeka, died Sunday, Dec. 22, 2002, at a Topeka nursing home.
Mr. Weems served in the Air Force from June 1951 until he retired in September 1971 as an aerospace equipment repairman.

He was decorated with the National Defense Service Medal, Air Force longevity service award with four oak leaf clusters, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, Republic of Vietnam Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze stars. He later worked for Allis Chalmers and Koker Small Engine Service. He owned and operated Long Oil Co. service station and small engine repair. He also had owned and maintained race cars and raced them at Shawnee Speedway. He was a mail sorter for the U.S. Postal Service for seven years before he retired.

He was born Aug. 4, 1931, in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Beryl C. and Edith White Weems. He graduated from high school in Haynesville, La.

He married Maria Mendoza on Oct. 5, 1969, in Manila, the Philippines. She survives.

Other survivors include three sons, Erick M. Weems, Leonard A. Weems and Raymond E. Weems, all of Topeka; a daughter, Judy M. Weems, Topeka; two sisters, Ann Parr, Salt Lake City, and Carolyn Null, Lake Charles, La.; two stepsons, Wilfredo Javier, and Renato Dela Cruz, both of Topeka; seven grandchildren; and five stepgrandchildren.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Parker-Price Funeral Chapel. Burial with military honors conducted by a Fort Riley funeral detail will be in Topeka Cemetery. Mr. Weems will lie in state at the mortuary after 3 p.m. Thursday, where visitation will be from 7 to 8 p.m.