Richard David Beckham Jr.

RICHARD DAVID BECKHAM JR 2 December 1925 – 13 July 2020 Born to Richard D Beckham and Maggie Eloise Potter in Washington DC. Preceded in death by Carol, his wife of 67 years. Survived by a daughter, Adria Cary (Dr. Edward Maniscalco) of Port St Lucie FL; son, David “Andy” Beckham of Plantation FL; granddaughter Megan (Matt) Shaw of Marysville CA; grandson Richard “Richie” Beckham of Sunrise FL; and three great-grandchildren. The Beckham family moved to Atlanta the year after Rick’s birth, where Richard Sr. worked for the Southern Railway. Rick attended Tech High, an all-boys high school. Richard Sr. died in 1942 when Rick was just 17 years old. He continued to live with his mother and attended Georgia Tech University on the Co-op Plan, which allowed him to work one academic quarter in his field of electrical engineering and then attend classes for another quarter (a pay-as-you-go plan, if you will). On one of his co-op quarters, while assigned to Shelby NC, Rick met Carol Allred, after which a six-month courtship ensued. On 19 September 1948, the two married in Asheboro NC. After graduation, Rick received several job offers; but, due to his chronic asthma, in 1952 he decided to accept a job in Ft Lauderdale FL with Florida Power & Light, a position he held for the next 35 years. He retired at age 62. Rick and Carol first rented an apartment in Ft Lauderdale on NE 10th Street, but soon bought a house ($10,000!) on NW 15th Place. By himself, Rick built a car port and workshop/storage area in the front of the house. He loved fiddling around with home projects and was quite the handyman. In 1971, Rick, Carol, Adria and Andy moved to Plantation FL, just west of the city, to the home on SW 4th Court, where Andy still lives. They spent many happy years there. Around 1995, they both decided (while they were still young) to plan for the future and move to a retirement facility: Covenant Village of Florida in Plantation, where they lived out the remainder of their days. Anyone who knew Rick knew that he was an engineer through and through. Everything he owned, from the clothes in his drawers to office supplies to tools, was stashed in a neat and orderly way. He enjoyed taking rides in the car (especially to check out new electrical substations), watching golf tournaments on television (although he never played himself), playing cards (he was a crafty old shark), and working on any numbers of small projects. Most of all, he enjoyed studying the Bible, with a particular interest in End-Time studies, about which he became very well-versed. Rick and Carol were members of the First Baptist Church of Ft Lauderdale for many years, but joined Plantation Community Church after they made the move to Plantation. To Rick’s many caregivers over the past couple of years, we say ‘thank you’, especially Maria from VITAS Hospice, as well as personal caregivers Theresa and Claudette. Funeral services pending.