John Beaman

LCDR John Hart Beaman, USN (Ret)

September 1, 1918 – April 15, 2010

John Hart (“Jack”) Beaman went home to heaven, April 15, 2010.  He was 91, and died of natural causes.  He was residing in Kirkland, Washington.

He was born to Addie and C. Lester Beaman on September 1, 1918.  He was the youngest of four children.

He was a strong, gentle man who was devoted to his wife Betty, his stepsons, son, daughter and grandsons; his extended family, friends and his country.  He never hesitated to be there for all of them.

Like his father, Jack was born and raised in Marysville, Washington and also lived in Clear Lake and Everett.  Jack spent the summer before his senior year in high school working at the CCC Camp in Darrington, Washington.  As a senior, he played for the Marysville High School football team.

Upon high school graduation in 1936, Jack did a four year enlistment in the Navy which ended shortly before the US involvement in WWII started.  He served on the USS California and got to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge while it was still under construction.  In 1938, Jack got to be on the maiden cruise of the USS Savannah which took him to Cuba, Haiti and England.  He got to be there when Chamberlain returned to London exclaiming “Peace in our time!”

He was immediately recalled into the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Later, he was accepted to flight training and earned his wings and commission as an Ensign in 1944. The announcement of his commissioning made the front page of the August 24, 1944, Marysville Globe, complete with a picture.  He flew submarine patrol missions during the war.

After the war, the Navy sent him to the University of Washington to study math and physics.  While there in Seattle, he met and married the lovely 25 year-old Lois Daniels in June 1948.  Soon thereafter they flew off to Jack’s new assignment in Hawaii.  Tragically, however, Lois contracted polio and lost her battle with it on March 20, 1949, in Honolulu.

Jack was transferred to Patuxent River Naval Air Station where he was one of the aviators to take a group of four US Senators from the Senate Appropriations Committee around the world.  The October to December 1949 trip took them to Europe, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, and various Pacific Islands.

Jack was sent to the Line School in Monterey, California in 1950 for more studies.  While in California, he met and married beautiful Betty Sprowls. Later, he was a flight instructor in Pensacola, Florida; then sent for additional advance training in Chicago, Illinois.  From 1954 -55 his squadron was deployed on the USS Badoeng Strait.

In 1956, Jack was sent to Kansas to learn how to fly jets and break the sound barrier.  His squadron then went on to qualify the A3D twin engine bomber for carrier landing.  It is still the largest plane to take off and land on an aircraft carrier.  The squadron then was assigned to the USS Bon Homme Richard which cruised to Hong Kong in 1957.

During Jack’s flight training days, he became life-long friends with three other men and their families.  Like Jack, they are men with humility in their strength and talent.

In 1958, Jack and the family moved from Coronado to Buena Park, California.  Jack was assigned to the Navy office at Douglas Aircraft in El Segundo.  There, he was the test pilot for the A3D Program.

The Navy career lasted 26 years upon Jack’s retirement in 1963.  He went on to serve as a environmental test team manager for the aerospace company North American (Rockwell), on the Apollo Program and on the Space Shuttle.  In 1966 the family moved to Huntington Beach.  He retired from his aerospace career in 1983.

Jack and Betty were true soulmates.  They were amazing cooks and gardeners.  They loved to gather with friends for dinner or just a simple cocktail hour on the patio.  In retirement, the two found time to travel and make a number of trips to Hawaii.  Jack was widowed again in 1991, when Betty lost her battle with lung cancer.

Jack returned to Washington in 1998, with his daughter’s family; living in Redmond and later, Kirkland.

The magnificent John Hart Beaman, loving son, brother, husband, father, and friend, is survived by his stepson Robert Wright, Jr.; son Charles L. Beaman, daughter Melinda Beaman Tyler, and grandsons Jeffry Wright, Michael Beaman, John Tyler and David Tyler.   He taught his children and grandchildren how to love unconditionally and gave them an example of how deep a father’s love could be.  He will be sorely missed.

Memorial service arrangements are private.  Interment will be at Pacific View Memorial Park, Corona del Mar, California.