Janette C. Hales Beckham
Janette Callister Hales Beckham was the tenth president of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is also remembered for her service in the Utah State Legislature from 1988 to 1991.
She was born in Springville, Utah, on June 7, 1933, and was raised in Spanish Fork, Utah. She earned a bachelor’s degree in clothing and textiles from Brigham Young University, where she met her first husband, Robert H. Hales. They reared five children. Cancer claimed his life in March 1988. Soon after his passing, Utah Governor Norman Bangerter appointed Hales to fill a vacancy in the Utah House of Representatives. In the following November election, she was voted into the slot and served there for one term; she decided not to run for a second term, at least because she was concurrently serving as a second counselor to Ardeth Greene Kapp, who was serving as the ninth Young Women general president.
During her administration, she married Raymond E. Beckham. In 1997, they were named Reed Smoot Citizens of the Year by Provo City and were awarded the Sons of the Utah Pioneers “Modern Pioneer” award. After she was released in 1997, they served as members of the Olympic Coordinating Committee of the Church of Jesus Christ for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics from 1998 to 2002. In 2004, Beckham became a member of the Utah Valley State College Board of Trustees and was named chairwoman in 2007. She served until 2011. Part of her responsibilities included helping the college transition into Utah Valley University in 2008. In 2013, UVU awarded her an honorary doctorate degree.
She also served on the board of directors of Deseret Book, and the Board of Trustees at Brigham Young University.
The Beckhams made their home in Provo, Utah. She died on March 4, 2022.
