Duncan Beard passed away suddenly at home on Saturday, August 31st. He was born in Moultrie, Georgia on September 2, 1948 to Laura and Sonny Beard, attended Moultrie High School and went on to the University of Georgia, graduating in 1970. While at Georgia, he joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He treasured the friends he made there all his life. One of Duncan’s talents was maintaining and growing friendships. He was linked in before there was a linked-in.
Duncan spent most of his career in the life insurance business with Mutual of New York. He was voted MONY’s Man of the Year in 1997, the company’s highest honor. It was fun to buy life insurance from Duncan because you got him in the bargain. He started an insurance study group in the early 80’s, and the men in the group became some of his best friends.
He married Ellen Marshall in 1978, the best sale of his life-per Duncan. Ellen is from Americus and their south Georgia roots worked very well together. Their son Charles Duncan Beard, Jr. was the light of his life. Then his granddaughter Amelie Beard was born--no limit to love.
Much of Duncan’s life was a focus on community service. He coached Buckhead baseball and NYO football for many years. He was an elder at Peachtree Presbyterian Church where he and Ellen taught Charles’s Sunday School for several years and were loyal members of Credence Sunday School class. He was a member of the boards of Presbyterian Homes, the Lovett School and Oakland Cemetery. His primary volunteer focus was the Shepherd Center. He joined the board in 1977 and never ceased being a fierce advocate for the Center. For decades he arrived at 6:00 am three days a week to serve breakfast to patients who could not serve themselves.
Duncan was an avid and skilled duck hunter. He liked nothing more than getting up at 4:00 am on a cold, wet winter day and trudging through the mud in waders to the blind. His duck-hunting friends were a close-knit group. Duncan was also an avid golfer, but not so skilled, a distinction he shared with many of his golf friends at the Capital City Club and the Ocean Forest Golf Club. And then there was UGA football…
He is survived by his wife Ellen, son Charles and granddaughter Amelie. Other family include his brothers Tom Beard (Frances), Jim Beard (Susan) and David Beard, his sister Becky Cowan (Charlie), his sisters-in-law Anne Peagler (George) and Mary Marshall and 12 nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Shepherd Center, Caring Hands Fund at Presbyterian Homes or the charity of your choice.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, September 5 at 11:00 am in the Fellowship Hall of Peachtree Presbyterian Church, 3434 Roswell Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30305 with a reception afterwards at the Capital City Club in Brookhaven.
