John August Beckstrand was born 19 March 1865, in Deseret, Millard County, Utah, the son of Elias August and Anna Sophia Heggland Beckstrand.

He served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. On 4 April 1890, as part of his service in the mission, he was appointed President of the Goteborg (Sweden) Branch of the Church.

He married Mary Elizabeth Stott on 30 November 1892, in the Manti Temple. They were parents of five children: John Morale (1894), Orvil Edwin (1896), Arland (1898), Grant Heggland (1901), and Blake Holder (1905). All five children were born in Meadow, Millard County, Utah. John, together with Joseph Hansen and Joseph Fisher, built a sawmill in Meadow Creek Canyon. Most of the homes built in Meadow in the early days were built from lumber which came from that sawmill.

Meadow became an incorporated town in 1910 and John August served on the first twon board. He was also a Millard County Commissioner for two separate terms.

He served as bishop of the Meadow Ward, as a councilor in the Millard Stake Presidency and as a president of Millard Stake. He was ordained Patriarch of the Millard Stake on 16 September 1928, and served in that capacity until his death.

John died on 16 April 1951, in Fillmore, Millard Utah, and was buried in the Meadow Cemetery.