Obituary of James Frank Beals

Jimmy Beals was born in Camden, New Jersey on January 3, 1939 to Everett K. “Debs” and Dorothy Millman Beals.  He was the grandson of Frank and Stella Kerr Beals of Argonia, Sumner County, Kansas and Jim and Mary Thomas Millman of Moorestown, Burlington County, New Jersey. Jimmy was preceded in death by his grandparents and his parents. He is survived by his second wife, Tina Gwaltney, of Hollister, California, his first wife, Myra Harris Beals, of Mendocino, California, a sister, Barbara Beals Barkdoll, of Lewes, Delaware, a niece, Molly Barkdoll Brownstein, of Milford, Delaware, and a nephew, Joe Barkdoll of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and five great-nieces and nephews.

Jimmy and his family moved to Kansas in 1942 where he grew up in Argonia, Sumner County, KS, and Manhattan, Riley County, KS.  Jimmy graduated from Manhattan Senior High School in 1957 and joined the U.S. Navy in 1958. After discharge from the military service in 1962, Jimmy lived in Moorestown, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Upon his marriage to Myra in 1964, Jimmy and Myra moved to the Chicago, IL, area and later to California where he spent the remainder of his life. He spent the majority of his working life as a mechanic, repairing everything from tractors to Porsches and running a VW repair shop in Santa Cruz, California, in the early 1970s. He retired from the California State Park Service.

While in high school, Jimmy spent two summers working on the ranch of his father’s cousin, Dick Kerr, in southeastern Colorado, where he learned to love horses, hunting, cooking, and story telling. He loved the open spaces and appreciated the beauty around him as well as the hard work it took to survive a ranching environment.

Jimmy loved exotic cars and fast motorcycles, especially motorcycles. He rode a lot of different bikes over the years, from Harleys to a Vincent, but settled on BMWs. Never just a weekend rider, he rode every day in all kinds of weather and reveled in it. He and Myra rode their now-classic 1965 BMW on long camping trips, he rode his bike to and from work every day, often over crowded freeways and mountain roads, and in his 60s, he made three cross-country trips, riding from California to the East Coast or California to Kansas. Jimmy's joyful, passionate place was rolling on the throttle and heading for top speed. He loved risking the edge and counting on his skills to most likely—but not absolutely—let him do so again and again.

Jimmy also loved quieter pursuits, fishing, camping, and birding. He was a great lover of animals and had a long line of dogs, cats, snakes, a pet skunk, a starling, and a blind horse during his life to name only a few. He used his ability to “speak animal” to communicate with fractious horses, chameleons, and his kitty cats.
A huge part of Jimmy's personality was the joy he took in telling an entertaining story. He delighted in regaling others with a wealth of tales from his own experiences and from his family's history.

Jimmy and his wife, Tina, spent many wonderful days and weeks camping in the mountains of California, exploring new areas, bird watching, and learning the history of their home in California.  Jimmy had a great love of nature and would take family and friends on “tours” of the many special places he and Tina enjoyed.  To get away, for Jimmy, was to go to the mountains, the desert, the ocean, the prairie, the lake or the river.

Jimmy was loved by many and will be greatly missed for his laugh, his creative language and his personality but mostly for his big heart.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. Memorial donations in his name can be made to the Nature Conservancy at: www.nature.org