William Beahm was born in 1896 to I.N.H. and Mary Bucher Beahm and spent his childhood and youth at various locations in Virginia, California, and Pennsylvania. After marriage in 1921 and serving on the mission field in Nigeria (1924-1937), he joined the faculty at Bethany Biblical Seminary in 1938. He was appointed dean of the seminary in 1944, a position he held until his retirement in 1962.
Whether translating the New Testament into the Bura language of northeastern Nigeria or interpreting the biblical message to seminary students over a period of twenty-five years, Beahm was known as an articulate and profound teacher. He was also known for his keen and ready humor, in his teaching and conversation the profound was often punctuated by the pun; wisdom was often laced with wit. While he enjoyed word play, he equally enjoyed astonishing people he had met only once before by greeting them with their first, middle, and last names.
After a courageous struggle against cancer, he died on this date, April 13, in 1964.
Source: The Brethren Encyclopedia
