GINGER BEEBE
Wife of Mike Beebe, 45th Governor (2007-present)

Born: September 3, 1949
Children: three
Original Home: Little Rock, Arkansas

Ginger Beebe was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, but was adopted at the age of four by Buell and Virginia Croom of Searcy, where she grew up. Mr. Croom was an oil supplier for local service stations. As a child she was interested in dance and baton twirling, and played flute in the Searcy High School band. After high school, she attended the University of Central Arkansas and Arkansas State University-Beebe. She married and had two children but later divorced. She met Mike Beebe when she became involved in the Jaycettes organization and he was in the Jaycees. They married in 1979.

Before her husband’s election as governor, Ginger Beebe volunteered extensively for charitable and public service organizations. In addition to working with the Jaycettes she was involved with the White County Medical Center Auxiliary in Searcy and on the board of the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute Foundation. She also served on the boards of the White County Rape Crisis Center, the Performing Arts Center on the Square in Searcy and on the Committee of 100, a group that supports the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View. Mrs. Beebe is also a Master Gardener and has assisted with the re-design and renovation of the governor’s mansion grounds and landscaping.

Since becoming first lady, Ginger Beebe has continued to volunteer much of her time to worthy causes. She worked with the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Association to produce the Arkansas Artists Engagement Calendar, a fundraiser for the mansion association that showcases the talents of eighty-eight Arkansas artists. She also serves on the board of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. She works with the newly established Children’s Behavioral Health Care Commission to gather information and raise awareness of the mental health care needs of the state’s children. She is also on the board of the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas, an organization designed to create and expand opportunities to positively impact the lives of girls and young women throughout Arkansas. Ginger Beebe works to promote the Flat Stanley project, an international effort to promote literacy, communications, and global understanding, and has enlisted the help of students from the Clinton School of Public Service to assist in these efforts. Despite her busy schedule, she stills enjoys the traditional duties of First Lady, and most visitors who attend an event held at the mansion can expect to meet her. The governor’s mansion is “the people’s house,” Ginger Beebe says. It is very important to her that everyone be greeted and welcomed to the Governor’s Mansion.