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About Ross & Marianna Beach
Reprinted from KSU Foundation Ovations newsletter

Ross & Marianna Beach

In the spring of 1941, Ross Beach took his girlfriend Marianna Kistler on an airplane ride. When the open-cockpit plane was aloft, he deftly turned it upside down. Maybe the young K-State graduate wanted to see if Marianna had the same appetite for adventure that he had — maybe he was just showing off a little for the girl he loved.

"I couldn't do anything but die of fright," Marianna said. Instead, she married Ross on June 1 of that year and the two embarked on a lifetime of love, laughter, friendship and adventure.

"She chased me, you know," Ross said, with a sly grin. "I'll read from a letter Marianna sent to a friend August 1, 1940 — ‘I've done one worthwhile thing this summer — snag one of the finer fellas around.' "

Still, Ross would be the first to tell you he was the one who snagged the real treasure. When Ross and Marianna met, she was an industrial journalism student who had already distinguished herself as a Collegian columnist, K-State theatre star and Royal Purple beauty queen attendant. Marianna was also active in the French Club, Theta Sigma Phi honorary, Pi Beta Phi sorority and Mortar Board. She and her friends from Mortar Board kept up a round robin correspondence for 50 years. The group also contributed to a leadership fund on campus to honor members who died. "It's vitally important for the state, and for the nation, that K-State prepares future leaders," she said. "It pleases me mightily that our Mortar Board group has helped with that effort."

Leadership is not a concept that Marianna takes lightly. During her junior year at K-State, she became involved in a student-led effort to convince the Kansas Legislature to allow K-State to begin construction of a student union with money collected from student fees. She still has a copy of a newspaper clipping that shows a picture of Kansas Governor Payne Ratner signing the bill into law. On hand for the signing are more than a dozen elected officials and dignitaries, plus young Marianna Kistler, whose hand rests lightly on the governor's desk.

Marianna graduated with honors in 1941. After Ross graduated in 1940, he began building a series of businesses that would eventually encompass oil and gas production, ranching, banking, and radio and television broadcasting.

He served in naval aviation in World War II and then continued flying for both business and pleasure for more than 50 years, logging more than a million miles in the air and earning numerous citations for his record of flight safety.

"My first ride in an airplane was my first flying lesson," Ross said. "I had earned my commercial, instrument and instructor's permit before I went into the Navy.

"Aviation has been an important key in business success. It's a cheap tool and an enabling factor that allows you to get someplace quickly to look after things and then move on to the next thing you need to do."

Marianna earned her pilot's license at the age of 45. "It was just something I wanted to do," she said. "It is so beautiful up there. I loved the excitement and the feeling of freedom."

Currently, Ross is president of Kansas Natural Gas Inc. in Hays, and chairman of the Douglas County Bank in Lawrence. "I have enjoyed everything I've done in business," he said. "If you don't enjoy what you're doing, you might as well quit and head on down the road, because you're never going to be any good at something you don't enjoy."

The success that Ross and Marianna have enjoyed has been shared in a most generous way with their alma mater (see sidebar) and also with other institutions in the state. The Beach Center on Families and Disability at the University of Kansas is named in their honor and they have generously helped to support the Sternberg Museum of Natural History and the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center at Fort Hays State University.

Beach Museum of Art Ribbon Cutting

"We want to see that students have the best opportunities," Marianna said.

"When we know of a need and it coincides with our interest, that's where we go," Ross continued. "All of our decisions are mutual."

Their generosity extends far beyond their financial resources. Service is an abiding theme for Ross and Marianna and they have given of their time, energy and intellect in their community, state,
nation — even internationally.

In January, the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas recognized Ross as the 2001 Kansan of the Year. Marianna received the same award in 1988. They are the first couple to each receive the award since the program began in 1955.

Marianna was appointed as the U.S. representative to the Directing Council for the International American Children's Institute in 1981 and later served three consecutive terms as president of the organization. She served two terms on the President's Committee on Mental Retardation and was the keynote speaker at the International Symposium on Mental Retardation at the state department in 1984. She is a patron member of the Kansas Press Women and was honored by the KSU Alumni Association with a Medallion Award. Ross is past president of the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce and past chairman of the Kansas Fish and Game Commission. He has served on the advisory boards to the business schools at Kansas State University, the University of Kansas and Fort Hays State University. He is past chairman of the Kansas 4-H Foundation, the Kansas State Fair and the Kansas Business Hall of Fame. He is one of the original trustees of the Dane Hansen Foundation in
Logan, Kan.

Do Ross and Marianna have any intention of slowing down in their early 80s? Probably not. Their devotion to service is as deep as their devotion to each other.

Marianna credits mutual respect, consideration for each other's opinions and humor as the secret to their long romance and friendship. "We have such fun," she said.

"Plus," Ross adds, "She chased me."

•JULIE LEA
MARK COLSON