John D. Beatty, age 88, of Brookings, died Wednesday, September 24, 2003, at the United Retirement Center in Brookings. Memorial services will be at 2:30 P.M. Sunday, September 28, 2003, at First Baptist Church in Brookings, with interment at Greenwood Cemetery preceding the church service. Visitations will be from 4 to 6 P.M. Saturday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials be directed to the Beatty Family Scholarship c/o the Brookings School District Permanent Fund, or to the United Retirement Center. John Dunton Beatty was born December 1, 1914, in Brookings, South Dakota, to Edgar H. and Mary (Dunton) Beatty. He graduated from Brookings High School in 1932 and from South Dakota State College in 1937. Following graduation, he was employed as want ad manager at the Daily Huronite in Huron, South Dakota. In 1939 he went with the Pioneer Telephone Directory Company in St. Paul as a salesman. While with this firm he also worked with a construction and maintenance crew for the Central Electric and Telephone Co. through their office in Slayton, Minnesota. Also, in 1940, he managed a mimeographed advertiser in Red Wing, Minnesota, that was owned by the Pioneer Company. On October 2, 1941, John married Opal Johnson at First Baptist Church in Brookings. John became the news editor of the Brookings Register. Two years later he became sales manager of the Register, a position he held until moving to Redfield in November 1945 as publisher and part owner of the Redfield Press. When that business was sold in March 1948, he came back to Brookings and worked in the family jewelry store. In 1964 he became owner of the business and continued there until retiring on January 31, 1987. John served two terms as an instructor in news editing and newspaper advertising at South Dakota State College. He was a co-founder and secretary of the Brookings Industrial Development Corporation and an agricultural-industrial-community study group called Area Progress. He served as treasurer of the Brookings School District and as a member of the board of trustees of Sioux Falls College. He served as a Sunday School teacher, trustee, deacon, and moderator of the First Baptist Church of Brookings. He was chairman of the United Fund board of directors and the Brookings County Red Cross. He was a director and president of the Brookings Chamber of Commerce. He was a national director of the Junior Chamber of Commerce and a charter member and president of the Redfield Junior Chamber of Commerce. He served on the board of the Minn-Ia-Kota Council of the Girl Scouts and for more than 35 years on the Boy and Cub Scout board for Troop and Pack No. 24 in Brookings. He was also a member of the Brookings Area Guidance Centers board of directors and the Brookings Hospital. He was a member of Kiwanis in Redfield and Brookings and the Brookings Rotary Club. John received the Outstanding Service Awards of both the Brookings Chamber and Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Outstanding Leadership Award presented by the Territorial Council of the American Red Cross. He and Opal received the Business of the Year award from the Brookings Core Association. He was listed in the 1986-1987 issue of Whos Who in the Midwest. Since 1970, John wrote more than a thousand columns for the Brookings Register, first under the name of B.J. Bentley and later under his own name. Survivors include a daughter, Jo (Larry) Kallemeyn of International Falls, Minnesota; a son, David (Jody) Beatty, of Socorro, New Mexico; seven grandchildren; and eleven great-grandchildren. His wife, Opal, died November 6, 2001.