Caroline Beard Obituary

Caroline Hembel Beard, born Caroline Cornelia Hembel, on the sixth of October, 1940, passed away peacefully on August 16, 2024, in Statesboro, Georgia.
Ms. Beard was a native of the Deep South, born to Capt. Marvin B. Hembel of West Bend, Wisconsin, an adventurous veteran and pilot of the second World War, and Cornelia Martin Hembel, a medical librarian and member of the historic Salzburger Society of Ebenezer, Georgia.
To anyone who knew her or even made a passing acquaintance, Ms. Beard was a force to be reckoned with. As a young woman, she learned to drive from the neighborhood boys, who were race car drivers. They taught her all about decelerating before a curve and accelerating through the curve. Apparently, they didn't do such a great job of teaching her about stop signs. She had at least two accidents due to a failure to yield, which may well have been her defining characteristic in life.
Ms. Beard took great pride in her trailblazing family roots, including settlers of South Carolina and Georgia's treacherous coastal wildernesses, and pilots who served from the earliest days of aviation, flying aircraft of all sizes and types in both war and peacetime.
Educators held high esteem in her extended family, which counted among its members teachers of everything from K-12 in a one-room schoolhouse to advanced subjects in the lofty lecture halls of higher education. Ms. Beard eventually joined their ranks as an early adopter of computer-aided drafting and design (CADD) technology, taking the lead on the establishment of Georgia Southern University's first CADD lab, and, ultimately, as a tenured professor in the field of engineering technology.
Always a fighter for more diverse representation in STEM fields, Ms. Beard was a champion for lifelong learning and the embrace of new technology among a wide range of students, faculty and staff in her decades at Georgia Southern University and in her doctoral work at the University of Georgia.
In addition to her professional achievements, Ms. Beard was an avid gardener, who found joy in nurturing plants, growing fresh produce in her kitchen garden and beautifying her surroundings with spectacular, pollinator-friendly displays.
She was also an enthusiastic Girl Scout leader for several years, instilling the values of leadership and community service in young girls.
Ms. Beard's love of architecture and design were reflected in her nearly endless lists of home improvement projects, where she channeled her creative energies and do-it-yourself initiative into building and renovating several homes and buildings in her community. Her fondness for music, ranging from classical to the moody blues and other artists of her time, provided a soundtrack to her life, one that delighted (and occasionally accosted) the ears of family members, friends and regular visitors to her household for many years.
Ms. Beard was the proud mother of five children, Rebecca Candice Nordick and Kelly Elisa Hiatt from her first marriage to Bill Smithey of Maryville, Tennessee; Stephen Wendell Moore and Lydia Moore Chipman from her second husband, Jim W. Moore Jr. of Soperton, Georgia; and Misty Beard Alder from her beloved husband of nearly 42 years, John Perry Beard of Sylvania, Georgia. By the time of her passing, Ms. Beard had celebrated the births of 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Marvin and Cornelia Hembel; her first husband, Bill Smithey; and her daughter, Rebecca Candice Nordick.
She is survived by her husband, John Perry Beard; as well as her sister, Judith Beatrice Hembel of Knoxville, Tennessee; and her brother, Marvin Martin Hembel of Bogart, Georgia.
Ms. Beard will be remembered for her maverick spirit, boundless creativity, fierce dedication to the causes of gender equality and environmental sustainability and dauntless support for her loved ones and community.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Ms. Beard's memory to National Public Radio, Georgia Public Broadcasting, Georgia Master Gardeners or the Georgia Southern University Foundation.
The graveside services will be held on Saturday, August 24, 2024, at 11 a.m. in the Guyton Cemetery.
The family will receive friends after the graveside service.
You may sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com.
Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home, Screven Chapel, is in charge of all arrangements.

Statesboro Herald, August 24, 2024
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