Donald Lewis Beardsley

Donald Lewis Beardsley, 68, of Buckeye, AZ (formerly from East Moline, IL) died from severe injuries due to an automobile accident on May 18th, 2022.
Burial Services for Don will be held at the Rock Island National Cemetery in Rock Island, IL on Thursday August 25, 2022, at approximately 1:00 PM.
A funeral procession to the Rock Island National Cemetery will leave at approximately 12:30 pm from Esterdahl Mortuary & Crematory, Ltd., 6601 38th Avenue Moline, IL 61265.
There will be a “Celebration of Life” in memory of Don Beardsley immediately after the service from 1- 4 PM at Schroeder Hall building 425 22nd Street Rock Island IL 61201 (NE Corner of 5th Avenue and 22nd Street) which is behind St. Mary’s Catholic Church  2208 4th Ave, Rock Island, IL 61201.
Our family would love for you to attend and share your memories/stories with us.

Don and Sally were married August 24th, 1974.  Don enjoyed fishing, hunting and just started getting into woodworking this past year making up a few requested small signs.  He was a blue jean and t-shirt kind of guy.
He loved his family and looked forward to when his kids brought the grandkids to visit.  He would introduce each grandchild to tools in his garage or take them to the free building workshops at Home Depot and Lowe’s where they would build a project together.  Without fail, each one seemed to miss the nail at least once while their grandpa held it for them.  He read them many storybooks (made up his own version of course to speed the stories up a bit).  He was a humorous man. He would break into song with his own version of lyrics (some were not appropriate for all of his audience), a true-self and told things like it was.  He had this evil like chuckle. This was Don’s way of saying a lot without saying anything but most knew what that chuckle meant.
Don served in the Army and was a Vietnam Veteran.
He was a very hard worker and very knowledgeable in many fields.  He worked at the Arsenal, was an Industrial Roofer in IL, Union Pacific in WY and retired with TSA Homeland Security in 2019 in AZ.
Don was a kind soul, although he always claimed that he wasn’t a people person, he was always there to help anyone out the best he could.
Don was liked by many and disliked by few.
Don was born June 21st, 1953 to Carol and Robert Beardsley.
Survivors include his wife Sally (Buckeye, AZ); his daughters Angela (Mike)Thorne (Surprise, AZ); Jessica (Jack) Edwards (Morris, IL) and son Tim (Cindy) Beardsley (Surprise, AZ)
Grandchildren Brennan, Brooklynn, Faith, Mitchell, Macie, Natalia, Nikolas, D.J., Brad ad Nick
Sibling (Mike) Sherry Beardsley (Rock Island, IL)
Host Dad to foreign exchange students; Amadeu (Sao Paulo, Brazil); Tobias (Germany); Barbara (Czech-Republic); Stephanie (Germany) and Manuela (Germany).
He was preceded in death by his mother Carol and Father Robert Beardsley and infant sibling Patty.