Obituary of Bishop Roosevelt Beville

Bishop Roosevelt Beville went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, November 14, 2020. He was born March 25, 1943 in Coatopa, Alabama, the eighth of ten children born to the late Tom A. Beville, Sr. and Cora Lee Beville. Roosevelt graduated from Belmont High School in 1963 and served as the class vice president and drove the school bus. He was a member of Bucks Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church. Roosevelt moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1963 and worked several different jobs until he was hired by Gibson Guitar Company where he worked with his brother Theodore Sr. and his best friend, the late Superintendent Levarn Smith Sr. He worked at Gibson until he was laid off in 1983 and then they eventually closed their doors in 1984 and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee. In November 1983, Roosevelt started working for Hercules Chemical plant until his retirement in 2000. Roosevelt met is first wife, Willie Seil (deceased in 1997), on a blind date. They dated for about a year and were united in holy matrimony on June 27, 1965. Together they had six children: Rose M., Shawn T., Tracy D., Orlando S., Marvin J., and Corye L. Bishop Beville received the Holy Ghost in November 1966 under the late Bishop L. W. Davis and joined the Church of God Pentecostal family. He served as a Deacon, choir member and he learned to play the guitar. He was a member of the “Mall City Jubilee’s” quartet founded by Bishop T.D. Lockett and traveled with the group singing and playing the guitar. In 1973, the late Pastor Kelly was led to start a Church in Grand Rapids, MI. The saints working with Pastor Kelly were the late Elder George Robinson and the late Sis. Joyce Robinson and family, Deacon Roosevelt, and Sis. Willie S. Beville and family. He and his wife were faithful in helping the Pastor. They went out into the hedges and highways and from door to door spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Mother Bernice Riley was their first member and the Church began to grow. They came over the highway every week lifting the name of Jesus. Pastor Kelly gave up the pastorship and in 1975, shortly after God called him into the Ministry, Bishop L.W. Davis appointed Minister Roosevelt Beville as the Pastor of the Church. In August of that same year, he was ordained in Mobile, Alabama and was installed as Pastor. On April 3, 1999, he married Dorothy M. Tate and moved to Caledonia, MI. He was grateful to God that he had been blessed to have two loves in his lifetime. With this union came three bonus daughters, Veronica S., Sonja L., and Kimberly A. Roosevelt loved to take long walks, play baseball, basketball, fish, and spending time with his family. His favorite desert was vanilla ice cream. He loved traveling back home to Alabama with Dorothy to their yearly high school reunions and taking his afternoon naps. In 2003, Pastor Beville was elevated to the office of Bishop and was appointed over the Midwestern Diocese. Through the years, Bishop Beville grew as a leader. He was a faithful warrior that led with wisdom, integrity, and loyalty. Bishop Beville was a leader that modeled commitment, he gave of himself and his finances to build up the Church. Bishop Beville did not ask anything of his congregation that he did not do himself. Bishop taught his congregation to work and develop God’s love in us, even the moral values such as respect for others like we respect ourselves; to be honest, truthful, trustworthy, faithful, willing and available to serve the body of Christ. He always said, “Love God and Love people,” because without love we cannot be faithful. Then he would say, “Saints keep looking up and be of good courage, “we are all helpers, one to another” and “we must decrease so that Jesus can increase”. He taught how we are all an important part of the body of Christ and that we must pursue teamwork and work together for the advancement of the whole body. We know that Bishop Roosevelt Beville’s faithfulness and steadfastness was not in vain, it is forever before God; God will truly reward him for his labor. He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife Dorothy Tate-Beville, eight children: Rose M. (William) Beville-Sprinkle of Kalamazoo, Shawn T. (Joyce) Beville of Arizona, Tracy D. (Chris) Beville-Smith of Kalamazoo, Marvin J. and Corye L. Beville of Terre Haute, Indiana, Veronica (Allen) Lindsay of North Carolina, Sonja (Jerry) White of Caledonia and Kimberly (Charlie) Gray of Novi. His mother-in-love, Ethel M. Whitley; two brothers: Theodore Beville, Johnny (Betty) Beville and three sisters: Mary Greenfield, Maggie Miller and Carma Jiles. Six brothers-in-love: A.L. (Mari) Whitley, Charlie D. (Sherry) Whitley, Palis Whitley, Johnson (Cheryl) Killings, Aaron (Lillian) Killings, Jerry (Leah) Killings and eleven sisters-in-love: Ann Beville, Jerlean (George) Grayson, Eloise (Joseph) Dyson, Shanda (Lou) Hill, Christina Martin, Janice (Virgil) Overton, Valerie Whitley, Tammy Stewart, Tarsha (Dale) London, Bertha (Ronnie) Moore, Octavia (Sanders) Williams. He was a surrogate father to four of his grandchildren: Etha Lattoyya (Marquis) Taylor, Darrell L. Williams, Portia L. (Joseph) Bullock and Marsenio L. Williams. 32-Grandchildren, 29-great-grandchildren. A host of nieces, nephews, cousins, the Grand Rapids Church family, friends and the Church of God Pentecostal, Inc. Church family. His wife, Willie S, preceded him in death in September 1997. He was also preceded in death by his maternal grandparents; Levi and Hattie May, paternal grandparents; William and Ruley Beville, his parents; Tom A. and Cora L. Beville; his son Orlando S. Beville; great-grandchild Jaelen A. Beville. His siblings: William Beville, Tom Beville, Jr., Cleveland W. Beville and Ruby L. Spencer; two brothers-in-love; James Killings and Columbus Killings and four sisters-in-love; Mary Lois Reynolds, Julia Winston, Willie Mae McGrue and Betty Meredith. This service will begin at 11:00 AM Saturday, November 28, 2020 it can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/faithtemplecog (copy and paste)