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     Betty A. Behm was born on 20 August 1924 at New Bremen, Auglaize Co., Ohio.¹ She married Marvin B. Kishler, son of Willis J. Kishler and Mary A. Clover, on 20 October 1945. Betty A. Behm died on 29 March 2003 at St. Marys, Auglaize Co., Ohio, at age 78.¹ She was buried at Elm Grove Cemetery, St. Marys, Auglaize Co., Ohio.¹ She graduated in 1942 at New Bremen High School, New Bremen, Auglaize Co., Ohio.

     Christopher Lawrence Behm was born on 24 March 1961 at Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa.^1,2 He was the son of John Wesley Behm Sr. and Mary Louise Graner. Christopher Lawrence Behm died on 6 January 2014 at Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa, at age 52.² He was buried at Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery, Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa.² He graduated in 1979 at Mason City High School, Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa.²

Following obituary in Global Gazette (Mason City, Iowa) Newspaper online on 09Jan2014:

Christopher 'Chops' Behm

CHARLES CITY
Christopher "Chops" L. Behm, 52, of Charles City and formerly of Mason City, died Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa.
A funeral service for Chris will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 10, 2014, at Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third St. N.E., Mason City, with Pastor Paul Schaefer from the Plymouth Bible Baptist Church officiating. Inurnment will be held at a later date in Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery, Mason City.

A visitation with a public viewing will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the funeral home.
Should friends desire, memorials may be left in Chris' name in care of his family.

Christopher Lawrence Behm, son of John and Mary Lou (Graner) Behm, was born March 24, 1961, in Mason City, Iowa. Chris attended Mason City High School and graduated with the Class of 1979. During his high school career, Chris was active in football for four years, winning the State Championship in 1978.
Following his high school education, Chris had several jobs and was active in the Mason City High School football program, coaching for over 10 years. Chris later worked in the automotive business as a salesman for over 20 years, selling Ford vehicles and later worked at Pritchard Family Auto Stores in Mason City until the time of his death.

Chris was never hesitant in dropping a dollar bill in a slot machine at local casinos. He enjoyed watching sports, riding bike and loved his family. Chris was a genuine man who silently gave his heart to many in the Mason City community.

Chris is survived by his parents, John Sr. and Mary Lou Behm, Mason City; brothers, John (Diane) Behm Jr., Des Moines, Tim (Charlotte Clark) Behm, Mason City, and Scott (Leslie) Behm, Mason City; nieces, Kelli Behm, Chicago, Ill., Tori Behm, Des Moines, Mary Behm, Minneapolis, Minn., Sarah Behm, Mason City, and Cassie and Sydney Behm, both of Naples, Fla; aunts, Shirley Behm, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Millie (Norm) Mondahl, Harrison, Alaska, Patricia (Larry) Syzmecek, Sierra Vista, Ariz., and Joan (Joe) Evans, Mason City; his coach and good friend, Ed Lenius, Mason City, along with several cousins and many of his loyal customers who he considered family.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, uncles, Donald Behm, Jack Graner, Lewis Graner, and his aunt, Barb Alitz

Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third St. N.E., Mason City, IA; 641-423-2372.³

     John Wesley Behm Jr. is the son of John Wesley Behm Sr. and Mary Louise Graner. John Wesley Behm Jr. married Diane (?)

     John Wesley Behm Sr. was born on 28 October 1936 at Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa.^1,2,3 He married Mary Louise Graner, daughter of Lewis Ferdinand Graner and Frances Mary Seiz, on 2 April 1955 at Silver Spring, Montgomery Co., Maryland.^4,3 John Wesley Behm Sr. died on 7 March 2021 at Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa, at age 84.^2,3 He was buried on 20 March 2021 at Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery, Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa.^2,3 He graduated in 1954 at Mason City High School, Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa.³ He began military service in October 1954.³ He ended military service in July 1957.³ He lived in April 1994 at 16232 330th St., Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa.

John W. Behm Sr.

John W. Behm, Sr., 84, of Mason City, died Sunday, March 7, 2021 while on vacation.

A memorial service will be held 11:00 am Saturday, March 20, 2021 at Hogan Bremer Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 3rd St NE, Mason City with Pastor Paul Schaefer of the Plymouth Bible Baptist Church officiating. Inurnment will follow in Elmwood St. Joseph Cemetery, Mason City.

John's family will greet relatives and friends from 5:00 until 7:00 pm on Friday, March 19, 2021 at Hogan Bremer Moore Colonial Chapel.

Should friends desire, memorials may be left in John's honor to the Alzheimer's Association or the American Heart Association.

Born and raised in Mason City, John Wesley Behm was born on October 28, 1936 to Lawrence and Helen (Stoeber) Behm. He attended Mason City High School, graduating among the class of 1954 before enlisting in the United States Army. John faithfully served his country from October of 1954 through July of 1957 when he received his honorable discharge from Fort Lewis Washington.

On April 2, 1955, while serving in the Army, John was united in marriage to Mary Lou Graner in Silver Spring, Maryland. Together they would be blessed with four sons and 63 years of marriage.

John was well known in the area for his long tenure in auto sales. For over forty years John worked for Lafrenz Ford in Mason City before finishing his career with Pritchard's in Clear Lake. John was blessed to work alongside his sons for a number of years; 45 years, 40 years, and 20 years with Tim, Scott, and Chris, respectively.

John enjoyed shooting the breeze with friends and spending time on the family farm where he always seemed to keep busy. He was a devoted father and grandfather and together he and Mary Lou spent countless hours attending their grandchildren's athletic events throughout the years.

Those grateful in sharing in his life are children, John (Diane) Behm, Jr., Des Moines, Timothy (Charlotte) Behm, Mason City, and Scott (Leslie) Behm, Mason City; granddaughters, Mary Behm, Mason City, Kelli Christian, Chicago, Sarah (Garrett) Black, Mason City, Cassie Behm, Boca Raton, FL, Tori (Kaleb Carstarphen) Behm, Indianola, and Sydney Behm, Boca Raton, FL; grandson, Christopher Platts, Fairmont; great grandchildren, George Christopher Black, Vivian Platts, Evelyn Ann Black and Cameron Carstarphen; and in laws, Shirley Behm, Mildred "Millie" (Norman) Mondahl, Patricia "Pat" (Larry) Syzmeczek, Joan Evans (special friend Joe Ricketts), John Alitz, and Cheryl Graner; as well as many nieces, nephews, extended relatives and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence and Helen; wife, Mary Lou; son, Christopher "Chops" Behm; father and mother in law, Lewis and Frances Graner; brother, Donald Behm; and nephew, Matthew Syzmeczek.

Cemetery Details: Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery, 1224 South Washington, Mason City, IA
https://www.colonialchapels.com/obituaries/John-W-Behm-Sr?obId=32724029.³


He lived in February 2019 at Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa.^5,4

     Scott Michael Behm is the son of John Wesley Behm Sr. and Mary Louise Graner. Scott Michael Behm married Leslie (?)

     Timothy Lewis Behm is the son of John Wesley Behm Sr. and Mary Louise Graner. Timothy Lewis Behm married Charlotte Clark.

     Augusta Amelia Behrend was born on 27 September 1846 at Milwaukee, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin.¹ She married Friedrich Luchau on 7 January 1867.¹ Augusta Amelia Behrend died on 21 April 1931 at Dent, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota, at age 84.¹ She was buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Dent, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota.¹

     David Beier married Mary Tutor, daughter of Gerald Tutor and Betty Duckworth.

     Jessica Belden is the daughter of Richard Belden and Diane Withers.¹

     Richard Belden married Diane Withers, daughter of Peter Craig Withers Sr. and Sonya Ellis Sells.¹

     Stephen Belden is the son of Richard Belden and Diane Withers.¹

     Jane Belin was born on 26 May 1927.¹ She married James Westley Harn Sr., son of Abraham Wesley Harn and Edith Ellen Ambrose, circa 1947. Jane Belin died on 14 January 2016 at age 88.¹ She was buried at Fort Moore Main Post Cemetery, Fort Moore, Muscogee Co., Georgia.¹ She lived in November 2004 at Columbus, Muscogee Co., Georgia.²

     Allen G. Bell Jr. was born on 14 February 1917 at Sandpoint, Bonner Co., Idaho. He was the son of Allen James Bell and Florence Andrea Peterson. Allen G. Bell Jr. died on 15 March 1925 at Rivercrest Isolation Hospital, Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington, at age 8. He was buried on 16 March 1925 at Greenwood Cemetery, Washington. The cause of death was Acute Parenchymatous, Nephritis. Contributory cause: Diptheria - pharyngeal.

     Allen James Bell was born on 24 September 1895 at Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington.¹ He married Florence Andrea Peterson on 13 April 1916 at Sandpoint, Bonner Co., Idaho. Allen James Bell married Letha Penelope Clow, daughter of John Arthur Clow and Hattie B. Harn, on 23 April 1927 at Bellingham, Whatcom Co., Washington. Allen James Bell married Letha Penelope Clow, daughter of John Arthur Clow and Hattie B. Harn, on 18 October 1951 at Pasco, Franklin Co., Washington. Allen James Bell died on 17 July 1966 at Seattle, King Co., Washington, at age 70.¹ He was buried at Section O, Highland Cemetery, Glasgow, Valley Co., Montana.¹ In April 1930 Allen James Bell was a Electrician, at North Trunk, King Co., Washington.

     Delores Bell married Eugene Albert Kimker on 3 May 2009.

     Florence Ruby Bell was born on 11 February 1919 at Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington.¹ She was the daughter of Allen James Bell and Florence Andrea Peterson. Florence Ruby Bell married Walter Donald Atwater circa 1947. Florence Ruby Bell died on 2 February 2017 at Rio Rancho, Sandoval Co., New Mexico, at age 97.¹ She was buried at Lakeside Cemetery, Cañon City, Fremont Co., Colorado.¹

     Katherine Bell was born on 2 September 1881 at Steuben Co., New York.¹ She married Edward Vent circa 1904. Katherine Bell died on 8 August 1969 at Milwaukee, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin, at age 87; Certificate:
025218.¹ She was buried at Two Lakes Cemetery, Phillips, Price Co., Wisconsin.¹

     Mary Marie Bell was born on 26 December 1887 at Ronan, Lake Co., Montana.¹ She was the daughter of William M. Bell Sr. and Rosalie Margaret Morigeau. Mary Marie Bell married Francis Cartillery Dupuis, son of Camille Dupuis and Philomine Augusta Finley, on 8 May 1904 at Missoula, Missoula Co., Montana. Mary Marie Bell married John Francis Vidmar. Mary Marie Bell died on 1 April 1953 at San Diego, San Diego Co., California, at age 65.¹ She was buried at Pleasant View Cemetery, St. Ignatius, Lake Co., Montana.¹ She lived in March 1946 at Missoula, Missoula Co., Montana.

     William M. Bell Sr. was born in 1832 at Canada.¹ He married Rosalie Margaret Morigeau on 25 July 1879 at Stevens Co., Washington. William M. Bell Sr. died on 29 July 1924 at Lake Co., Montana.¹ He was buried on 31 July 1924 at Beauvais Decker Catholic Cemetery, Polson, Lake Co., Montana.¹

     Newton Ingle Bellamy was born on 5 June 1885 at Scott Co., Virginia.¹ He married Viola Adele Warfel, daughter of James Stewart Warfel and Harriet Edwards, circa 1909. Newton Ingle Bellamy died on 16 May 1942 at Casper, Natrona Co., Wyoming, at age 56.¹ He was buried at Highland Cemetery, Casper, Natrona Co., Wyoming.¹

     Ray Dent Bellamy was born on 7 April 1910 at Missouri. He was the son of Newton Ingle Bellamy and Viola Adele Warfel. Ray Dent Bellamy married Leona Wagner. Ray Dent Bellamy and Leona Wagner were divorced before 1950. Ray Dent Bellamy died on 8 February 1999 at California at age 88. He lived in May 1942 at Casper, Natrona Co., Wyoming. He lived in 1930 at Douglas, Converse Co., Wyoming. He lived in January 1980 at Fremont, Alameda Co., California.¹

     Virginia Bellamy was born circa 1913 at Missouri. She was the daughter of Newton Ingle Bellamy and Viola Adele Warfel. Virginia Bellamy married Edward A. Reynolds on 2 June 1930 at Douglas, Converse Co., Wyoming. Virginia Bellamy and Edward A. Reynolds were divorced on 28 March 1945 at Douglas, Converse Co., Wyoming, Grounds listed were Indignities. Virginia Bellamy lived in May 1942 at Denver, Colorado.

     Ruth Belle married Marion Harn Jr., son of Marion Alexander Harn Sr. and Edith L. Kennison, circa 1958.¹ Ruth Belle and Marion Harn Jr. were divorced on 17 May 2007 at Portage Co., Ohio.¹

     John Thomas Bellison was born in February 1872 at Maryland. He married Rose Swick. John Thomas Bellison married Catherine Maria Harn, daughter of John (II) Harn and Charlotte Hay, in 1894.² John Thomas Bellison died on 20 January 1923 at Baltimore Co., Maryland, at age 50.³ He was buried at New Cathedral Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland.³

     Adam Bellows is the son of Keith Adams Bellows and Shelly Williams.

     Keith Adams Bellows was born on 1 October 1951 at Leopoldville, Belgian Congo. He married Nancy Ann VanNorden on 12 October 1974 at Norwich, Vermont. Keith Adams Bellows married Shelly Williams, daughter of William Edgar Williams Jr. and Mary Donna Stickley, circa April 1984 at Knoxville, Knox Co., Tennessee. Keith Adams Bellows married Melina Beth Gerosa on 4 December 1999 at St John's Episcopal Church, Larchmont, Westchester Co., New York. Keith Adams Bellows died on 29 August 2015 at Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, at age 63. He graduated at Dartmouth College, Hanover, Grafton Co., New Hampshire. He lived in January 2000 at Fairfax, Virginia. In January 2000 Keith Adams Bellows was a Editor-in-Chief, at National Geographic Traveler.

Keith Bellows, 1951-2015

In the wake of his sudden death Saturday before last, dozens of travel-writing professionals have been hailing Keith Bellows as a giant in the industry: “brilliant, a creative genius,” “always scanning the horizon for the next great thing,” “a pusher, a dreamer, a doer, a man on a quest.” Well-known travel writer and TV host Rudy Maxa, who traveled extensively in Asia with Bellows, credits him with pioneering digital media and the concept of “authentic” travel. Actor/writer Andrew McCarthy, thanking Bellows for his whole writing career, wrote, “He had a grand vision and loathed the mundane.”

No one in the world had a resume much like Keith’s. Born in the Congo, he grew up in Montreal, but was educated in Scotland. He was always international in his perspective, a globe-trotting writer and editor, for years the man in charge of National Geographic Traveler, maybe the world’s best-regarded travel magazine.

So far, this fact hasn’t been mentioned much: In the middle of all that, he spent 15 vigorous years in Knoxville. And I think he had an effect on the place.

He was at one critical time very interested in this city and its downtown’s revival. For a dozen years he worked for Whittle Communications, as one of that organization’s most dynamic and creative editors. But he also had an uncommon interest in Knoxville itself, in pushing it beyond its perceived boundaries.

I should acknowledge that I might not be in journalism if not for Keith Bellows. At 27, I’d done some freelance writing, but my lack of a journalism degree kept me out of most jobs, even with the local daily. I’d washed out of J-school in two weeks, mainly due to my inability to get along with a demonic machine called the IBM Selectric II, the typewriter that I was told was de rigueur for modern journalism. I lapsed back into the ocean of liberal arts, where I was still allowed to use my manual.

The local publishing phenomenon at the time was a big magazine company called Whittle Communications. They hired hundreds from across the country. Everybody I heard of there had a J-school degree, and most of the staffers I knew about, even the low-level ones, had done an internship at a big national magazine.

I had not. But through friends of friends, I was told the guy to know was Keith Bellows, and he was known to think for himself, and make exceptions. I sent him my unconventional resume, and some clips. He wanted to talk to me.

Whittle was based in the Arnstein Building, overlooking Market Square, and Keith had a corner office. I think it was on the third floor.

Keith greeted me like a friendly lion. He moved around the room restlessly and talked fast, and everything he said was interesting. I was not used to people like that. He talked about hockey and Africa and the urgent importance of family journalism. He had the talent of making whomever he talked to feel as if they were, with him, smarter than everybody else, and part of some essential inner circle that was going to turn the world on its ear.

“We’ll get you in here somehow,” he said with his big conspiratorial grin. I never doubted him, every time I heard him say that over the next two years, as I took jobs proofreading trusts for lawyers or delivering jelly for the Fraternal Order of Police, getting turned down for work in insurance and motel management, as I was trying to pay for a new baby. Keith never forgot about me. I was about to be hired on one project, then a shoo-in for another. I finally got a toehold on a humor poster for laundromats.

For a guy who works with words, he had an extraordinary physical presence. He always struck me as an athlete trying to get used to street clothes. And he didn’t mind that those clothes were a decade or two out of style. I remember when Whittle was starting to rattle some national cages, one magazine article about the phenomenon made fun of Keith Bellows’ corduroy suit. He shook his head, grinned, and was quickly on to something more interesting.

He’d arrived here during the World’s Fair, when the former Dartmouth hockey player was best known as editor for a hockey magazine. At Whittle he worked on a few manly athletic projects, but, married and becoming a father himself, gravitated toward family and parenting concepts, notably Whittle’s most ambitious launch, Special Reports, which at its height produced 36 big glossy magazines a year, all aimed at doctors’ offices. Keith was in charge of that.

His friend Randall Duckett, who still lives here, recalls his style. “He shot from the hip, but he was remarkably accurate. He had a very acute editorial sense.” He adds, “He was bigger than life.”

At Whittle, Keith was in the upper echelons. In my six years there I never even got out of a carrel. Truth be told, in that extroverted, fast-paced, short-form, four-color world, I was never sure I belonged. Keith swam in it like a porpoise. But he always remembered me and stopped and talked, and I had the impression he sometimes wanted me to validate an idea of his, bounce something off me. He once sent me to New York just to listen to some rock ’n’ roll cassettes in the Seagram’s Building.

At the time, it was a common understanding that Knoxville was a second-rate city, and any efforts to improve it were, at best, quaint. Many who lived here seemed to like it that way. Most Whittle editors, who regularly traveled to Atlanta or New York for fun, were happy to accept Knoxvillians’ own assessments of their city’s mediocrity. Keith wouldn’t buy it. He saw potential in the place.

In the late 1980s, he was a partner, with Ashley Capps and a couple others, in an unprecedented subterranean nightclub called Ella Guru’s, bringing in big names for a small room. He was not involved in booking acts, but he may have been Knoxville’s most enthusiastic advocate for the place, and its lineup reminded me of his reputation at Whittle, getting big names in small magazines. After a couple of memorable years, Ella Guru’s turned out to be too much, too soon. But it raised our expectations of what we could hope to find in a Knoxville nightclub.

Keith kept trying. In fall, 1990, he was involved in an astonishing event called the Knoxville World Festival. It was something we’ve never seen before or since—a convention of kinetic little European circuses, held in tents on World’s Fair Park, plus musical performances, giant puppets, and the world premiere of a groundbreaking new play. It seemed to open a new door for Knoxville. He wanted to make it every year. Hundreds came, but not the hoped-for thousands. I’m not sure Knoxvillians knew what to do with a festival that didn’t involve corn dogs. A decade later, it would have become permanent.

He worked to get high-speed Internet cable—that was before Wi-Fi—to downtown Knoxville. He and Chris Whittle were both convinced by 1990 that the future belonged to the Internet. That day didn’t arrive fast enough for them.

He loved the area, and lived all over it: first in Seymour, then Island Home, then on Lyons Bend in a house made from a log cabin—then much father out, in a real cabin beside a creek in Happy Valley, in the foothills of the Smokies. He once hosted a small picnic there in honor of one of his favorite freelancers, Elizabeth Berg, before she was an Oprah-approved bestselling novelist.

He commuted to town in a red Mazda RX-7, with an unexplained, and unrepaired, bullet hole in it.

When Whittle finally crashed in ’94, many left, as soon as the job was done. Keith stuck around for a few years. His son Adam and ex-wife Shelley lived here, and he seemed especially interested in what seemed to be about to happen to Knoxville’s downtown. He co-founded a company called WestWorld Media, based in an office above the Blue Moon Bakery in an interesting old Victorian building on West Jackson Avenue, and by 1995 was working in national media and this new thing the Internet. One early project was the heavy-metal band Metallica’s first website. He got involved in Excite.com, one of the early search engines, and helped launch Baby Center, a California-based parenting website. He started another company with his colleague Randall Duckett, the Media Development Group, which still exists here, now run by Randall’s wife, Maryellen. In those days, MDG were creating a Sunday-paper insert for kids, sponsored by Disney.

It was always fun to run into Keith in the Old City; he was always off on some new venture, convinced, more than I was, that downtown was just about to bloom, with upscale residences and restaurants and nightclubs and independent high-tech media companies. Back in the early days of Metro Pulse, I felt lucky that Keith Bellows was still in town, years after Whittle’s collapse, still driving national media and pushing this interesting new Internet thing—and right around the corner from us.

But around ’97, he got offered a job nobody could turn down. National Geographic Traveler was an old-fashioned print magazine, but being its editor counts as one of the best jobs in the world. Downtown Knoxville did bloom, but Keith’s career was blooming elsewhere. In the job that he held for 17 years, Keith saw much of the world. As much fun as it was to have him here, the world was where he belonged. He lived an adventure, a life most young journalists aspire to live. He gave one of the early TED talks, naturally about an African adventure.

Although Keith had been suffering from liver disease, his death a few days ago was unexpected.

In a coincidence that can only be called bizarre, he died the same weekend his former wife Shelley Williams died. Shelley, who stayed in Knoxville, was a talented art director who worked for Whittle, too, and 25 years ago, they were a creative power couple. And they died the same weekend. You hear about such coincidences among long-married couples, but Keith and Shelley had been divorced and living apart for at least 20 years.

He was due to be here this week, for a rare return visit to see old friends and have a look around. I hadn’t talked to him in years, and was looking forward to catching up. I was interested to know what he thought of the place in 2015, now that downtown has become a legitimate travel destination, curious about whether Knoxville looks something like he pictured it would.

https://knoxvillehistoryproject.org/2015/09/09/keith-bellows-1951-2015/.¹

     Annette Bellucci was born in 1900.² She married Romeo Fusaro.¹ Annette Bellucci died in 1985.² She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens North, Pompano Beach, Broward Co., Florida.²

     David Belt married Debbie Haverstick, daughter of John R. Haverstick and Laura M. Hall.

     William B. Belt married Tessie Lorraine Micken on 18 September 1944 at Montana. William B. Belt and Tessie Lorraine Micken were divorced on 23 July 1947 at Cut Bank, Glacier Co., Montana, Grounds listed were Extreme Cruelty and Habitual Intemperance. No children.

     Angelo Benedetti married Betty Harn, daughter of Paul Duff Harn and Mildred Virginia Bauch, circa 1950.¹