Weyland Beeghly

Weyland Beeghly, 72, died at home December 10, 2015 in Omaha, NE after a 2-month illness. Weyland is survived by his wife Susan; 3 children: Graham Beeghly of Santa Monica, CA, Laura Beeghly and husband Brian Priesman of Omaha, and Benjamin Beeghly and wife Anna of Baltimore, MD; 4 grandchildren, Tessa and Ezra Priesman and Milo and Mira Beeghly; and 2 sisters Beverlee McCollum and Bonnie Nigro, both of Omaha. He is preceded in death by his parents, Milford and Dorothy Beeghly of Pierson, IA. Weyland was born on April 23, 1943 in Sioux City, Iowa to Milford and Dorothy (Graham) Beeghly. He was raised on his family’s 500-acre crop and livestock farm near Pierson, Iowa. He graduated from Kingsley-Pierson High School in 1961, attended McPherson College in McPherson, KS for 2 years, and received a degree in Agriculture Journalism from Iowa State University in 1965. After graduation, Weyland worked several years for the Ford Foundation in India before attending Bethany Seminary (Church of the Brethren) in Oakbrook, Illinois. In 1970, he married Susan Caylor of Anderson Indiana, whom he met in Chicago at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute where both worked on the adolescent ward. The couple moved to Ithaca, NY, where he graduated from Cornell University in 1972 with a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics. In 1973, he took a position with the Foreign Agriculture Service of the USDA as an analyst in the Grain & Feed Division. He and his family moved to the former USSR in 1976 where he served as the assistant agricultural attaché at the American Embassy in Moscow. From 1978-1983, Weyland took a break from the Foreign Service to farm the family farm. In 1983, he returned to the Foreign Service where he spent the remainder of his career, serving 13 years as the agricultural counselor in the American embassies of the former USSR (1983-1986), Thailand (1986-1990), Poland (1991-1993), and India (1998-2002). The remainder of his time with FAS was spent at the USDA in Washington, DC during which he and his family lived in Alexandria, VA. Weyland was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2002, retired in 2004, and moved with his wife to Omaha, NE in 2011 to be closer to his daughter and sisters. Weyland was a man of many talents: a singer/songwriter/guitarist who wrote and performed songs about animal husbandry, a humorist and storyteller who schooled the agriculturally ignorant (of which there are sadly many) on the exciting intricacies of plant and animal reproduction, and a gifted writer of both the prosaic and the absurd. Some members of the Foreign Service may remember him for his amusing correspondence and tongue-in-cheek cable communications; others may recall his bovine attire at a country team meeting in Bangkok or his booming baritone belting out a bluesy rendition of “Pig Piles in the Wintertime” at the Warsaw Embassy Follies. His family will remember him as a teasing, affectionate, dependable presence in their lives, a person who loved interesting dinner table conversation, brisk walks, card games with his grandchildren, musical gatherings of friends, bawdy jokes, Brussels sprouts, and icecream. Weyland often asserted that he had lived a wonderful life: he travelled the world doing work that was interesting and fulfilling to him; he achieved success both personally and professionally; his integrity, unique humor, generous nature, and dedication to his work earned him the respect and

friendship of many. He will be greatly missed by his family and all those who knew him.



Services:

A memorial service is scheduled for 2:00 PM on January 2, 2016 at Morning Star Lutheran Church In Omaha, NE with a gathering to celebrate his life in the Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. in May. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the National Parkinson’s Foundation