Boykins – Angelina Eudora "Lina" Felts Beck, granddaughter of a Civil War soldier and witness to the 20th century, passed away in her sleep on June 4, 2007 at her nursing home in Bealeton, VA. She was nearly 104 years old. Born at home in Boykins, Southampton Co., VA, she was the last living child of the late John Baker and Annie Laura Hines Felts, and was the widow of Frederick Winston Beck. She left the family farm before she was 20 and got a job with AT&T in Richmond, during a time when operators wore long skirts and used roller skates. She soon accepted an AT&T job in Detroit, MI, where she became a long-distance operator supervisor. She remembers working on Black Tuesday in 1929, when the stock market crashed. After a 40-year career. she put her executive skills to use as a volunteer for the American Red Cross in the Detroit area. It wasn't long before she supervised ARC transportation assets for a tri-county area, a post she held well into her 90s. Proud of her Southern roots, Mrs. Beck was a member of Boykins Baptist Church, the UDC and Friendly Visitors. She enjoyed spending summers at her farm near Staunton, VA.
Left to cherish her memory is her daughter, Gwendalyn F. Cody of Annandale; two grandchildren, Cathleen C. Shiff and husband, David, of Amissville, and Robert L. Cody, Jr., and wife, Lisa, of Ada, MI; one great-granddaughter, Brianne Cody of Ventura, CA; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A funeral will be conducted at 11 am Friday in Boykins Baptist Church with the Rev. Raymond Bunn officiating. Burial will follow in Beechwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 pm Thursday at Wright Funeral Home, Boykins Chapel, and suggest memorials be made to Boykins Baptist Church, P. O. Box 316, Boykins, Va. 23827, or American Red Cross, P. O. Box 952, Franklin, Va. 23851, or a favorite charity. www.wrightfuneralhome.org