Beatrice Ann McMinds, a longtime resident of Aberdeen, passed away at Panorama City Convalescent Center on March 14, 2013, at the age of 100. Bea and her twin sister, Barbara, were born in Centralia, Washington, on August 10, 1912, to Walter and Mary Preble. The family moved to Pacific Beach and later to Aberdeen.
Bea graduated from Weatherwax High School in 1929 and from Washington State Normal School (now Central Washington University) in 1935. She married John McMinds on December 26, 1937 in Aberdeen and taught at Washington Elementary School in Hoquiam for many years before her retirement. She was a charter member of the old Young Mother’s Club, P. E. O., and the Aberdeen First Presbyterian Church.