Our brilliant, beautiful Beck entered this world on November 15, 2000. Imagine our shock when Beck came out as a ginger. We were afraid he wouldn’t have a soul. As it turned out, his soul was remarkable. He ran deeper than anyone I have ever known. Beck taught us how to love.

Beck was a perfectionist. He didn’t choose to be a linguist, but he was. We were worried that Beck’s peers were starting to speak and he wasn’t. He never babbled or baby talked. One day, he just started speaking in full, perfectly grammatically correct sentences.

When Beck was 2 years old, his brother Max joined our family. Beck was closer to Max than anyone in this world. They had a secret sense of humor that no one else understood. It was Beck and Max against the world. There were never two more loyal brothers.

When Beck was 3 years old, Brad bought him a motorcycle. It came with a helmet and one glove. Beck slept with that single glove on his hand every night for weeks. Beck was very logical. At around age 5 or 6, he informed us that while he did believe in Santa, he did NOT believe in elves.

When Beck was 8, he started riding BMX bikes. I recorded and showed Beck a video I had taken of him while racing BMX. After watching it, Beck said, “Dad, why did you record it in slow motion?” It wasn’t recorded in slow motion.

Beck attended a Spanish immersion preschool the first few years of elementary school. In 4th grade, he transferred to Hawthorne Elementary, where he learned with many other gifted students.

At Hawthorne, the school spelling bee was a big event. Fourth- through sixth-graders were allowed to participate. Beck and I studied word lists and he was excited to participate, but typically only the 6th graders won. Max told his 2nd grade teacher he wanted to be excused from class to watch the spelling bee, but she wouldn’t allow it because she thought there was no chance. Beck won the spelling bee as a fourth grader, which had never happened in the history of the school. He won again in 6th grade. Both times, the study list had been exhausted and they had to go “off list” to find a winner.

Beck was a dedicated rock climber. He climbed for over 10 years and even made it a priority to rock climb in the Netherlands. Beck started climbing at a climbing camp at The Front when he was about 12. He was pretty embarrassed of me as his mom and tried not to acknowledge me. At the end of the camp, I was taking a lot of photos of him. His friend asked Beck if he knew who I was. Beck denied knowing me. The friend told him, “Well, that woman either thinks you are a really good climber or she wants to molest you because she won’t stop taking pictures of you.”

At around age 14, like most kids, Beck played video games. We only allowed him to play for a limited time each day because we thought it was bad for him. As it turned out, Beck was good. Really good. Somehow we learned that at the age of 14 he was ranked 108th in the world at this specific game. We couldn’t understand how this was possible as he had such limited time to play video games. It turned out he would go to bed every night when we asked, then wait until we were asleep and get up and play Halo online all night. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I once caught Beck playing at 3am on a school night. I threw his Xbox out our 7th story window. In my defense, I eventually bought him a new one.

Beck was very creative and business-minded. During high school, he created a brand. He had stickers printed, posters made, and even lanyards made as part of his company. He was very entrepreneurial and sourced all the items himself. In high school, Beck never asked a girl for a date, but multiple girls asked him on dates.

Brad got Beck (and Max) skiing soon after they could walk. Beck taught skiing at Brighton to young children while he was in high school. As Beck got older, he wanted to switch to snowboarding. I told him he needed to learn to ski before he could start snowboarding. He did learn to ski and he did eventually switch to snowboarding.

Beck always wanted a dog. It only took him 17 years to get one. Our dog’s hair matched Beck’s and so did his personality. He named him Louis, of course, after Louis Vuitton.

We loved to travel as a family. We were shocked when we ended up in Santorini, Greece, or the Grand Bazaar in Turkey and Beck was able to show us around without ever having been there. He didn’t need a map. He just knew the places because he had played them in Assassins Creed.

Beck was a big part of The Blueberry Hill. He designed products and packaging for me, and I was blown away at how well he connected to buyers when he helped me at trade shows. He was just so natural.

Beck started college at Utah State University in Logan. While there, he started playing guitar and even played rugby for the school. This is where he started to really find his niche with languages and learning. He became obsessed with studying Latin and later Dutch and was a natural at it. Anyone who knew him had heard him rap. He rhymed incessantly and could make a rap out of anything.

In the Fall of 2022, Beck decided to transfer to Portland State University. He moved to Portland and was excited for a change of scenery. He continued to study Latin and started studying Dutch in preparation for his study abroad in the Netherlands. Beck was a beautiful man. His gorgeous red hair made him instantly recognizable. He signed with a modeling and acting agency in Portland and had just started booking shoots, particularly in the athletic category.

While in Portland, he sought out and joined the Chill Foundation. Here, he helped underprivileged children acquire gear and learn to ski. He loved seeing the kids get excited about learning to ski.

Beck had an innate sense of style and design that was incredibly unique and impressive. He discovered brands and styles long before they became cool. Usually, by the time these brands became mainstream, Beck thought they were passe and had moved onto the next cool thing. His fashion sense was impeccable. I knew if I asked him about an outfit he would give me an honest and accurate opinion. I will really miss that.

Beck moved to Groningen to study in January of 2023. He loved learning Dutch and his friends in Groningen.

We found some writing in Beck’s room. We aren’t exactly sure when he wrote this but we wanted to share it.

5 goals. 

Make a billion dollars

Own a Club

Raise a Child

Win a triathlon

Build a skatepark

Hike Everest