Mrs. Ursilia Elzora Beckles

Ursilia Elzora Beckles, née Smith, was born on August 3, 1929, to the
union of Hewitt Augustus Smith Forbes and Jane Smith, née Wilson, on
San Andrés Island, in Colombia, South America. Ursilia was raised in the
same Christian church where her grandfather, father, and later her brother
Ulrich served as ministers at Iglesia Misión Cristiana North End on San
Andrés Island. She was baptized at the church on June 9, 1940 and
educated in the Colombian school systems where she graduated with her
high school diploma.

After graduating high school, she moved to Los Rios, Canal Zone, Panama
where she lived for nine years. While there she met her future husband
Ralph who later moved to the United States in pursuit of the American
Dream. He proposed to her in a letter and she bravely set off for the U.S.
where she married Ralph Joseph Beckles on June 4, 1959, in Boston,
Massachusetts. In 1960, Ralph and Ursilia moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
where she attended night school at Milwaukee Vocational and Adult
School, currently known as Milwaukee Area Technical College, to earn a
U.S. high school diploma. Ursilia would go on to receive further
certifications to serve as a foster parent and later her license to provide
childcare services within her home for 28 successful years. In that
timeframe, she opened her home to her own grandchildren, neighborhood
children, and the children of the members of Atonement Lutheran Church in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin with much love and compassion.

The Beckles family were initially members at Christ Presbyterian Church
until their family moved to the northwest side of Milwaukee in 1972. Ursilia
resided in the home for 43 years, where she enjoyed gardening, sewing,
hosting gatherings, spending time with family and friends, and watching her
favorite soap operas.

She became a confirmed member of Atonement Lutheran Church on June
23, 1974, where she remained a member until transferring her membership
to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Columbus, Ohio in 2015 when she went to
live with her daughter and son-in-law. Ursilia was also an active member of
the Multi-Cultural Committee at Atonement and enjoyed going to Bible
class regularly.

On October 12, 1988 she suffered the loss of her beloved husband, Ralph.
She departed this earthly life and went on to be with our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 after a brief illness. She is
preceded in death by her husband, Ralph, her parents, Hewitt and Jane
Smith, and her siblings, Uel, Ulrich, Urmie, Uphebe, Ubaldina and two other
siblings who died in childhood.

She is survived in death by her siblings Hewitt and Ulmis, her children
Manuel, Mario (Angela), Miguel, Melinda (Gene Sims) and grandchildren:
Sierra (Dustin) Beckles Young, Jordan Beckles, Marela Cumberland, née
Theadore, Veronica Shelton, Erika Sims, Ursilia “Imani” Beckles, Nia
Beckles, and Ayanna Beckles. Great grandchildren include Audra Young,
Elena Young, Miriam Young, Malachi Croom, Xerik Craig, Veronica Smith,
and Madison Smith. A large number of relatives in Colombia also survive