Hundreds Pay Final Respects To Popular University Place Educator

Tears, humor, anecdotes, music and prayer came in equal doses Saturday as mourners celebrated the .

According to the people who knew him, that's the kind of effect he had on people.

Hundreds of people, including family members, friends, colleagues, current and former students and college classmates filled to nearly overflowing to pay last respects to "a true Renaissance Man.”

Mr. Beale, 37, assistant principal at Drum Intermediate School, died April 30 in a motorcycle accident.

Speakers recalled his many talents.  A life-long musician, he played trumpet for the Tacoma Concert Band and created ceramics for family, friends and charity events.

A 1995 graduate of the University of Puget Sound, he later earned a master’s degree from the University of Washington.

Beale taught at Central Kitsap Junior High in Silverdale before becoming an administrator at Drum Intermediate.  During his tenure at Central Kitsap Junior High, the music program grew to more than 200 students.

Among Saturday’s speakers was Patti Banks, University Place School District superintendent, who got the assembly laughing with her recollections of Mr. Beale’s antics -- such as lacing her cough syrup with alcohol when she was sick.

The celebration of life also drew a host of Beale’s musician’s friends, who performed classical selections as well as jazz tunes in his honor.

The Rev. Patrick Wrisely said it often is difficult for parents, relatives and friends to understand why a loved one is taken.  However, the joys and memories Beale created for those around him would help sustain them, Wrisley said.

“Today we are here to celebrate the life and legacy of man who has touched and shaped so many of us,” Wrisley said.

Agreeing was Drum Intermediate sixth-grader Brooke Weber, 12, who said Beale understood how to discipline students.

“He was always fair with us," she said.

Mady Whitcher, 12, another sixth-grader, remembered Mr. Beale playing his trumpet at the Veterans Day assemblies.

“He was a really good musician.  He was also a really good assistant principal,” she added.  “He always kept the students on track.”

Classmate Claire Dosser, 12, said she liked when the assistant principal would give her “high two’s” instead of high-five’s.

“He’d always come in our classroom and check on students with behavior problems.  He’d help them,” she said.  “And he’d always be walking around at lunchtime and sitting with the students.”

Drum will never be the same without him,” Weber added.

Mr. Beale was killed when a sport-utility vehicle ran a red light and collided with his motorcycle in Tacoma.  Beale’s parents, Gordon and Norma, plan to set up a scholarship fund in his name.