Donald Wayne Beveridge Jr.

Donald Wayne Beveridge, Jr. (Don) of Palm Coast, Florida, died peacefully in his sleep during the early morning of Sunday, September 25. Don celebrated his 90th birthday two weeks before his death with family. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 10, 1932.

A week before his death, Don commented about his long life saying, "It was quite a ride." And what a ride it was!

Coming from a working-class family, his father worked retail selling men's clothing, and his mother was a bank teller.

Don was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in Korea as a Staff Sergeant during the Korean War. This is where he said he learned how to lead people.

Returning from the war, Don attended and graduated from Harris Teachers College with a B.A. in education. In the college cafeteria, he met and asked Betty Wecker, also a student, to attend a party with him. When she asked if she should bring a date, he told her, "No, I am asking you to come as my date." And thus, a seven-decade loving relationship began.

After a short stint teaching (he often joked about being the only teacher fired for not knowing how to spell), Don entered the business world, joining Mobil Oil.

With ever-increasing promotions to district and regional manager positions and responsibility for designing Mobil's sales training program, he continued to excel and build his teams.

As his Mobil responsibilities grew, so did his family. He and Betty raised a family of six children, Donna, Don, Diane, Dirk, Debbie, and Dawn. It has been a family joke that he named all of his kids after his wife, Betty.

With his growing family, in 1969, Don went to his boss at Mobil and asked for a one-hundred dollar per month raise. When they refused, he moved the family from Pittsford, New York, to Barrington, Illinois, taking a position as the national sales manager with F.W. Means, a regional linen supply company,

While attending an Executive Education program at The University of Wisconsin, Madison, he was underwhelmed. He approached the program director and said, "I could do better than that." He was told to "Prove it."

And prove it he did. Soon after, Don taught his first program as an ad hoc faculty member at the University of Wisconsin and received rave evaluations. Unbeknownst to him at the time, this was the start of a twenty-year teaching partnership with the university and the launch pad for his consulting and speaking career.

Relying on the entrepreneurial spirit he developed in high school, making non-corrode battery washers and cold call selling them to service stations for nineteen cents per four-pack, Don again became an entrepreneur entering the consulting business under the banner D.W. Beveridge, Jr. and Associates. The company later became Beveridge Business Systems.

Beginning with just a few clients in the linen supply industry, Don's speaking business exploded when in 1985, Forbes Magazine featured Don in an article. The article stated, "Of course, there are stars such as Tom Peters of In Search of Excellence, and Buck Rogers Of IBM fame, but none is a star like Beveridge."

Often referred to as "America's Most Outstanding Speaker," Don set the standard for business motivational speakers. Companies such as General Motors, Burger King, and AT&T brought Don in to keynote their most critical business meetings. "Something good happens when our people are exposed to Beveridge Think" was written in one client testimonial that sums up the experience of a Don Beveridge presentation.

Don's speaking brought him worldwide to businesses and audiences on six continents and intersected with his love and passion for travel.

And travel he did! Don loved to explore the world with his wife, Betty, and his family.

As the family grew up in Barrington, the family would take three annual trips to ski the mountain in Breckenridge, Colorado. Don always saw to it that the family was on the slopes when the chair lifts started each morning. Often to early morning groans.

The family is still unsure if the love of skiing with the family or the cases of Coors Beer strapped to the car's roof on the drive home was the real motivation behind these trips. 😀

Over the years, Don curated and planned many "once in a lifetime" trips for his family worldwide. The family traveled to Kenya and Egypt, witnessing the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti, followed by a cruise down the Nile and visits to the Egyptian pyramids.

Successive family trips included journeys to Antarctica, a private Amazon River cruise, Europe cruising the Danube, and cruising the Caribbean on a six-sail schooner, among others.

And speaking of the Caribbean, beyond the love of his family and travel, Don's other passion was for his motor yachts, Lady Betty and Speaker. Moored in the British Virgin Islands, Don was in his heaven on earth cruising Sir Frances Drake Channel and dropping anchor in secluded bays.

He often showed a picture of his yacht during presentations, saying, "I am at the Moorings in Tortolla. Come on by and onboard; I'll buy you a beer." And then, always revealing his other side, concluding with, "But don't stay too long."

As much as Don thrived in the limelight during his career, he was a very personal man and shied away from social gatherings.

A lasting legacy that Don has left for friends and families is the library of documentary videos he created during his travels. He didn't just visit the world; he immersed himself. Wherever he traveled, Don learned the history, culture, and people he captured in the videos he shot, narrated, and produced.

Before his death, Don would spend hours of the day reading books on military history, particularly Second World War history.

It was quite a ride!

Don was preceded in death by his father, Donald Wayne Beveridge, Sr., his mother, Esther Moses, his son Donald Wayne Beveridge, III, and his grandsons, Donald Wayne Beveridge, IV, and Eric Beveridge.

Don is survived by his wife, Betty Jean (Wecker) Beveridge, four daughters Donna (Mark) Cleveland of Hallettsville, TX, Diane Beveridge of Bradenton, FL, Debbie (Robert) Taylor of Grand Cayman Island, Dawn Sydney (Meredith Sargent) of Seattle, WA; his son Dirk (Gail) Beveridge of Barrington, IL, his daughter-in-law Natalie (Zubin) Beveridge of Las Vegas, NV; his nine grandchildren Marc Cleveland (Leah), Nicolle (Cleveland) Baker (Travis), Latitia (Cleveland) Savell (Curtis), Dirk Beveridge, Allison Beveridge, Lindsay Taylor, Trey Taylor, Katie Taylor, and Patrick Taylor; and his seven great-grandchildren Glenn Baker, Austin Baker, Kathryn Baker, Eland Savell, Ava Savell, Irah Savell, and Adler Savell; his brother-in-law Bill Wecker and his wife Sharon Wecker of Wheaton, IL.

Over the last years of his life, Don struggled with Parkinson's Disease and was lovingly and tirelessly cared for by his wife Betty with loving support from his long-term care giver, Grace Realbuto.

Don's message to family members who visited him at his bedside in the last weeks was to "Live a happy life." He also wanted his loved ones to be able to say, "It was quite a ride."

Friends may call at Craig Flagler Palms Funeral Home after 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 3, 2022. The family will receive friends until 4:30, with a Celebration of Life Service and testimony beginning at 4:00.

Don would appreciate donations to the Wounded Warrior Project instead of flowers.