Friday October 7, 1938 – Thursday May 12, 2022
Bea was a loving wife, mother and grandmother and is survived by her husband of 57 years, Andy; her son Andrew Jr. and his wife Irma, of Lutz, FL and their three children, Sofia, Andrew III and Nicholas, and her daughter, Samantha of Atlanta, GA, and her husband, Norman “Finn” Findley IV, and their two children, Lauren Elise and Liam. Her passing was preceded by her father, Louis Joseph Deal, her mother, Margaret “Peggy” Dodds, and her brother, Louis Deal.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, she graduated from West Catholic Girls High School in 1956. Born with a congenital heart defect, in 1963 “Betty Lou” as her family called her, underwent one of the very first successful open-heart surgeries in the world and was recognized as the Queen of Hearts for the American Heart Association where she was the honorary golf caddy for President Eisenhower and Arnold Palmer. Bea also danced on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.
She began her career at Smith, Kline & French Laboratories where she met her then future husband, Andy. After marrying in 1965, she left her career to start a family in support of her husband’s career that took them across Pennsylvania before moving to Tampa in 1980. She earned her BS in Biology from the University of South Florida.
Throughout the years, Bea volunteered at the Philadelphia Zoo and the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, as well as at St. Paul’s Catholic Church where she was a regular member. She was an avid and accomplished artist and wrote four children’s books featuring characters who represented her grandchildren. Bea loved to travel, especially to her home away from home in Hilton Head, SC. She enjoyed cruises all over the world with her husband, trips to Las Vegas and Biloxi, and loved her friends, making new friends and generally meeting new people whom she always made feel special.
The viewing will be held on Thursday May 19, 5:00 PM at Blount & Curry Funeral Home (3207 Bearss Ave, Tampa); the wake will begin at 6:00 PM with a reception to follow. A funeral mass will be held on Friday May 20, 10:00 AM (guests arrive 9:30) at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Carrollwood with burial to follow at the Lake Carroll Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bea’s name to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or the American Heart Association.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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