Lewis and Susan Beaty were recognized by Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe on Wednesday for their service to the community.
Kehoe, along with State Senator Jeanie Riddle and Missouri Rep. Travis Fitzwater, stopped by St. Peter Catholic Church to present the Beatys with a Senior Service Award, which recognizes the accomplishments of Missouri's senior citizens.
"When you read through all the things that they've done, it truly embodies what the Senior Service Award is about," Kehoe said. "Our office awards each year to a very select few and a very rare few that are husband and wife."
The couple are involved at St. Peter Catholic Church and School, helping with maintenance, volunteering in the library and with gardening projects. Lewis Beaty participates in the Knights of Columbus, while Susan Beaty is a part of the Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary.
During tax season, the couple also volunteers through the AARP Tax Aide program at the Fulton Senior Center. Lewis, who welds for Mobility Worldwide, also repairs exercise equipment at the YMCA, while Susan works with the Fulton Preschool Association.
"It's really inspiring that the focus of your retirement wouldn't be to relax or to take time off, but it would be to serve your community," Fitzwater said. "That's a real, real beautiful thing."
The couple was nominated by Joanne Schrader, who said that it would be too difficult to nominate one over the other.
"They do more volunteer work than is accomplished in a full-time job," Schrader wrote in the nomination.
The Beatys said they were humbled and surprised by the recognition.
"Joanne started asking us a lot of questions and we wondered what it was for," Lewis Beaty said.
They thought that would be the last they'd hear about it.
"There's just so many people across the state," Susan Beaty said.
When the phone call came in, they almost didn't answer because they didn't recognize the phone number.
"I can simply say that God has been so generous to us for our entire life and I can't keep from thinking about the expression in the Bible, 'to those that much is given, much is expected,'" Lewis Beaty said. "I try to live by that."
Much of the couple's volunteer work is focused on helping out with small tasks, like maintenance repairs.
"For us, it's those ordinary, mundane things, those tasks the maybe get deferred because there's more important things to be done," Susan Beaty said. "We enjoy doing that. It gives us great joy."