Pauline Turley

Sharing our Links to the Past
by Wally and Frances Gray

Back to Ann Lewis's Table of Contents

Pauline Turley (Mrs. Albert Farnsworth Beecroft) (1908-1958)

The Theodore Turley Family Book, p. 269

Pauline's childhood was spent in the Mexican colonies and during her early youth she was held as a hostage by Pancho Villa and his men while her parents were sent to bring in arms.

Her mother died several years later, in 1919, and Pauline went to live with her maternal grandmother, Maria McClellan Hatch. Her father remarried, but Pauline continued to live with her grandmother while receiving her education.

While teaching school in Colonia Garcia she met Albert Farnsworth Beecroft. They married Sept. 8, 1928 in Tombstone, Arizona and their first child was born in Bisbee, Arizona on June 19, 1929. Following this event they returned to Mexico where the remainder of their six children were born. They raised their family in the Colonies until 1949, when they moved to Douglas, Arizona, where Pauline remained until her death on Oct. 31, 1958.

Life was never easy for Pauline. Her mother died at a young age; her father was unable to care for her; the only brother she had received a head wound which retarded his learning ability and consequently they were both teased by other children.

After her marriage to Albert, a great deal of responsibility for the family was placed upon her because he was a commercial hunting guide and would be gone for long periods of time. In addition to caring for six children, she had to teach school for several years. Had she elected not to teach, none of the children in Garcia would have had an education. She did all these things and more, in spite of periods of illness and hard times, and she was a better person for it.

To those who knew her, Pauline Turley Beecroft stood for warmth and love and goodness. These virtues were extended even beyond family and friends to those who were looked down upon by many. Even the stoic Apaches turned to her when they needed help–not because of medical training, for she had none, but because they trusted her and knew she would help.

Even her final years were difficult at best, for they were filled with pain. She died of cancer two months after her fiftieth birthday. At her funeral, the Church was filled and when there was no standing room left inside, the people stood at the windows looking in. Even the high school, thirty miles away, was closed so the students and faculty could attend. That was a great tribute to a great lady. Her memory lives today in the hearts of those who loved her, Pauline was buried in Heber, Arizona.

Children of Pauline Turley and Albert Beecroft:

Myrtle June Beecroft Martineau

Jack Turley Beecroft

Betty Lee Beecroft Whetton

Muriel Lynnette Beecroft Crandell

Glen Albert Beecroft

Charles William Beecroft