S. James Beale

Dr. S. James Beale - He was born and raised in a little town on Cape Cod named Sandwich, the son of the town doctor. He was the youngest of 3 children, having a sister and a brother. He lost his brother to an infection at the age of 17 because penicillin had not yet been discovered. Jimmy was favored by his mother who had been a school teacher. She taught him to read long before he went to school. Thus he was a good student, attending grade school and high school in Sandwich, then (at that time) Wilbraham Academy (now named Wilbraham-Monson Academy) in Wilbraham, MA, Brown University in Providence, R.I. and medical school at Tufts University in Boston, MA.

When he graduated medical school in 1942, he knew he did not want to practice medicine in the cold and snow of New England, so he set out for a warmer climate and managed to get an invitation for his internship and residency at the old St. Luke’s Hospital on Boulevard in the Springfield area of Jacksonville. He moved with his wife and 2 young sons and started an adventure that carried him to the age of 100. They were to add a daughter not long before he was called to duty during WW II.

Jim left the United States aboard a military ship bound for France on January 1st, 1945 arriving 16 days later. His troupe boarded a transport train to travel up the coast of France, but he joined in with the other medical corps to be transported by truck. When they arrived at St. Vallery en Caux, the train carrying the troupes had lost control and crashed through the train station, killing 89 soldiers and injuring many, many more. If not for his being with the medical corps he could easily have perished in this crash. He was stationed in France, Belgium, and Germany for the duration attaining the rank of Captain as a Medical Officer assigned to General Surgery. As many a military man will attest, wartime is seldom discussed with anyone other than another G.I. so little is known of his active duty.

On his return to Jacksonville, Dr. Charles Wilhelm was there to help him build a private practice of general medicine. He opened his doors hugely in debt and a pregnant wife – soon after to deliver twin sons. Jim persevered delivering lots of babies and performing general surgery. Remember this is only 1946, before each illness had its own physician.

Dad was a well-respected family physician in the Springfield to Oceanway areas. He was of the era when physicians made house calls at the end of a busy day and rarely arrived home before 7:30 or 8:00. But my Mom would always work it out so that the family ate as a unit. It was the highlight of each day where fun and laughter was an integral part of the family meal. While he wasn’t able to give us a lot of time, the time he gave us presented us with endless memories. Starting in 1951 the seven of us crammed into a Hudson Hornet sedan and trekked the 1200 miles to Massachusetts to spend the month of August on East Sandwich Beach so we could be acquainted with the majority of our relatives. The best part was that the nearest telephone was at the general store down the beach. We had our parents to ourselves for a whole month. The greatest memories a child could possibly have. 5 kids and their parents had spent 3 long days in an un-air conditioned car on highway 301, so when we got to the beach the kids ran wild for a week.

Dr. S. James Beale, MD and Dr. Thomas Rich, MD plus two other physicians started the first practice of having physicians assigned to the emergency rooms 24/7 beginning at the old St. Luke’s Hospital located on Boulevard. For the first time in his life he had regular hours, regular paychecks and benefits. He manned the E.R. for a bit over 10 years and retired at the age of 65. By then attorneys were breathing down the necks of physicians and he decided he had had enough.

During his career, he sponsored a class of nurses, was president of the medical society, was a member of several boards of activities at St. Luke’s and the Child Guidance Clinic.

He lost youngest son Jeff to Melanoma on December 27, 2010. Earlier this year, on January 4, his son Wallace was severely injured in a head on auto crash on I295 and succumbed to those injuries on January 8, 2016. These young men were twins and the family entertainment from the day they were born until the day they passed from this earth.

After 72 years of marriage to the love of his life, his wife Paula passed away February 15, 2013. They shared an apartment in an assisted living facility for over 10 years so he merely moved to a smaller apartment in the same location. His daily routine was to do leg lifts while still in bed, then drink four glasses of water laced with vinegar and honey. He would do all kinds of exercises in a chair and then go for a walk around the building, sometimes more than once. He was a huge believer that exercise is the answer to good health and he was a walking testament to that. His body slowed down, but there was nothing wrong with his memory nor his sense of humor or appetite.

He and Paula loved to travel having been to Ireland 11 times. Also, England, France, Germany, Dubrovnik a true highlight. Also visiting Hawaii and Australia. They enjoyed guided tours on mainland Europe, but always guided themselves through Ireland.

There were Paula and Jim (2). 5 children who all were happily married (10), who then produced ten grandchildren, all married (20) who then produced 25 great grandchildren. Since 2008, Jim lost his loving wife, Paula, a great-granddaughter, a daughter-in-law, and 2 sons.

I know this is a long dissertation, but wanted to give you as much information on Dr. Beale as possible.