John Wayne Beard, 79, of Columbus, passed away August 25, 2021, in Casper, Wyoming, due to COVID pneumonia, with his wife and daughter at his side.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, September 8, 2021, 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Lowndes Funeral Home, Columbus, MS with Lowndes County Sheriff's Honor Guard.  A service celebrating his life will be Thursday, September 9, 2021, at 11:00 AM in the Lowndes Funeral Home chapel with Rev. Byron Benson, a  lifelong friend, officiating. A visitation will be one hour prior to the service.  Interment will be at Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, MS with the honor guard from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. . Family request masks be worn at all services and everyone dress casual.

Wayne, as everyone knew him, was born September 1, 1941, in Macon Mississippi, to Samuel Arnett (S.A.) and Frances Wilkes Beard, who preceded him in death.

Shortly after he was born, the family moved to Columbus and their descendants still live on the land they settled.  Wayne graduated from Lee High School and married his high school sweetheart, Glenda Easley, on September 1, 1962.  They would have celebrated their 59 ^th wedding anniversary a week after his death.

Early in life, Wayne discovered a love for animals of all kinds and the outdoors.  Naturally, he was led to a career that he is most remembered by: Game Warden.  He and some fellow game wardens formed a competition shooting team that won many National Championship tournaments.  He made many lifelong friends across the country by participating in these tournaments, ranked by the NRA as a High Master Combat Shooter.  He was a firearms instructor for the Department of Wildlife of the State of Mississippi for many years.  In his spare time, he built a practice shooting range and formed the Columbus Gun Club.

While serving the State as a Game Warden, he was Vice President of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Association for the Northern District twice.  He was chosen as Outstanding District Officer of the Year by the State Game and Fish Commission.  He served as a board member of the Mississippi Tennessee Peace Officer's Association, before being selected as Vice President, and eventually President of the Association, and was featured on the cover of "The Lawman" magazine.

Achieving the rank of Master Sergeant as a Game Warden, Wayne spent the last few years of his career in undercover investigations for the Department.

After retiring from the state after 33 years, he went to work for the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office as Litter Control Officer.  He was recognized by the State for implementing a plan to dispose of deer carcasses during hunting season using public disposal containers placed around the county.  In total, Wayne worked in Law Enforcement for 44 years.

After his 2 ^nd retirement, he began doing what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it.  This included cooking fish or barbeque for anywhere from 5 to 1500 people at a time, collecting antique John Deere Tractors and farm implements, collecting and showing classic cars, fishing, traveling, watching every John Wayne movie ever made, memorizing every Gunsmoke episode, and keeping the yard cut.

He volunteered and cooked for Camp Rising Sun yearly.  He and Glenda spent hours with the residents of the Mississippi Sheriff's Boys and Girls Ranch and considered the children extra family members.  Wayne helped design and build a pavilion at the ranch for picnics and meetings and helped with many other improvement projects during the time the Ranch was at capacity with children.  Many youngsters considered Wayne an adopted Uncle or Grandfather, and have maintained contact, long after reaching adulthood and having families of their own.

Horses were another love of Wayne's.  Along with his father, S.A., he was involved with raising and showing registered Quarter Horses, and owned or co-owned several riding clubs and stables in Columbus.  He was one of the founders of the Golden Triangle Cowboy Association, and organized rodeos and team roping events at the arena of B and B Riding Club.

Many times Wayne and some of his closest friends traveled to the annual Frontier Rodeo Days in Cheyenne Wyoming each summer.  Wayne loved to travel the United States and see its wonders.  Never one to favor out of the country travel, he could visit the west over and over and find something different about it each time.  Wayne and Glenda were on a trip out west when he got sick.  His family and friends find peace in the fact that he was doing something that he loved to do and was where he enjoyed being in his final days.

Wayne was a man of many talents and skills.  He could build it, weld it, take it apart and fix it again, shoot it, cook it, catch it --- whatever IT may have been.  He once roped a loose cow on Main Street that had eluded capture for over a day.  He crawled beneath a stranger's burning car on their carport to attach a chain to the axle of the car, and towed it to keep the house from being a total loss.  He had a charitable heart and did not speak of his good deeds--- many of which family has only found out about since his death.

Most recently, he was known for his Tractor Ice Cream.  Using his talents to fix things, he devised a way to use an antique John Deere Tractor to power old-fashioned ice cream barrels, churning out some of the best ice creams ever.  Many people had him make ice cream for their family reunions, weddings, or other large events.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother Neil, his sister June and her husband George Glusenkamp, sister-in-law Frances Ann Hawkins and brother-in-law Phil Blake.

Wayne is survived by his wife – Glenda their daughter Carol Anne, and her husband Jim Stafford, who he considered the son he never had.  Other survivors include his sister-in-laws Gracie Beard, Carolyn Blake, Cynthia McGee and her husband Forrest, Rose Marie Coggins and her husband Danny, brother-in-law Buddy Easley and his wife Kathy.  He is also survived by 5 nephews and 4 nieces and their families.

Honorary pallbearers will be Danny King, Charles Patterson, Don Hudson, Jimmy Panell, Billy Pickens, Billy Smith, Glenn Baldwin, members of the Chitterling Club members of the Steens Community Center Supper Club, members of Lake Norris Fishing Club, Members of the Caledonia Supper Club, Members of the Twelve Man Supper Club, Past and Present Officers of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Past and Present Members of the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department, Lee High School Class of 1961 and other numerous friends that are too many to list, for fear of leaving someone out.

In lieu of flowers, the family request memorials be made to Golden Triangle Outdoors, 224 Stateline Road, Columbus, MS  39702 or Catch a Dream Foundation, 2485 Ennis Road, Starkville, MS  39759.