Samuel Jerome Beard

Beloved father, brother, mentor, and friend, Sam J. Beard Jr. passed away peacefully in his sleep in Dallas, Texas, from natural causes on Oct. 27, 2015, a few weeks after celebrating his 89th birthday with his family. Born Oct. 14, 1926, in Batesville, Ark., to Sam and Henrietta Beard, Sam grew up in Augusta, Ark., on the White River. The middle of six children, he farmed, milked cows, and picked cotton. From an early age, Sam loved his family, friends, travel, the out-of-doors, and college football. After playing on Augusta's high-school football team, he later played for University of Arkansas, "freezing," he said, in the 1947 famed tied Arkansas vs LSU Cotton Bowl Classic, remembered as the Ice Bowl. Years later, he enjoyed representing Arkansas for the Southwest Conference. On a small yet no less influential scale, Sam coached Park Cities Y football in Dallas where his Blue Bruiser teams were famously "undefeated." Sam and the love of his life, wife Fran Tomlinson Beard, met at the University of Arkansas. She preceded him in death, after almost 60 years of marriage and romance. Following in his father's footsteps, he was president of his fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon where Pi Beta Phi Fran was a campus beauty. Serving briefly in the Army Air Corps when WWII ended, he returned to school and married Fran in '49. They moved to Dallas and established a home, family, and careers. Besides their fantastic sense of humor, Sam and Fran shared keen intellects and incomparable skills as conversationalists. Although Sam worked in college as a waiter, cab driver, day laborer, gas-station attendant, carpenter, and more to make ends meet, eventually, he began selling stocks and bonds. By his early 30s, he'd established himself as a successful investment banker with the Nashville firm of Equitable Securities. In 1967 Goldman, Sachs, & Company engaged him and his long-time business partner Thomas Walker to open the first Dallas Goldman office. With visionary foresight, after officing in One Main Place downtown, Sam made a controversial decision to move Goldman from downtown to the "outskirts of downtown" at the Crescent office building, where the firm remains today. He, thus, helped establish the area North of downtown as a premier center in Dallas for banking and finance. Retiring from Goldman, Sam soon went to work for the Bright Companies, supporting his good friend, the late Bum Bright and former owner of the Dallas Cowboys, on various projects such as the 5,000 acre Castle Hills development in Lewisville where he occasionally dispensed children's gifts during the holidays disguised as Santa Claus — a role well-suited to his generous personality. From 1973 until his death, Sam held a board position with All Aboard Travel, the Virtuoso agency his wife Fran founded and which remains family operated today. Especially loyal to the YMCA, Sam became the Downtown Y's Chairman of the Board in 1968. Throughout his life, Sam was active in numerous philanthropic organizations such as the Kiwanis and Optimist Clubs, and organized a train filled with underprivileged children from Gainesville to Dallas for an early Cowboys' game, when few people attended. He served on the boards of the Dallas Museum of Art and Children's Medical Center, among others. Sam and wife Fran were actively involved in the Dallas Contract Bridge Association, over which he presided for many years and supported the late Ira Corn in establishing the Dallas Aces. Along with Fran, a championship duplicate player, Sam was also an accomplished player. He was a past president of the Dallas Country Club, president emeritus of the City Club downtown, and enjoyed membership for many years at Preston Trails Golf Club, the Crescent Club, and the Ferndale Club, among others. Sam was preceded in death by his wife, parents, and brothers John Berry Beard and Alan Ramsey Beard. He is survived by his daughter Alex B. Ramsey (formerly known as Jann Kelso) and Scott McKinsey Beard, by his grandson Christian Samuel Kelso and wife Bethany Anne Kelso, by his great-grandchildren Preston Scott Kelso and Campbell Sterling Kelso. He also is survived by his siblings, Mary Leon Daniels of Hot Springs, Laura Beard Munson of Virginia, and James Galvin Beard of Augusta, and many nieces and nephews. A memorial celebrating Sam's life will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, in Highland Park United Methodist Church's main sanctuary. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Fran T. Beard and Sam J. Beard Jr. Endowed Scholarship at the University of Arkansas for Geographic Study or to the charity of your choice.