Gary D. Beech

Gary D. Beech, a decorated Army officer and accomplished civil engineer, passed away on Sept. 4 in Gladwyne, Pa. He was born on April 15, 1937, in the small railroad town of Parsons, Kans., to John R. and Louise (Jones) Beech, but his path through life was determined in 1946, when he saw an issue of Life magazine with a picture on the cover of Army football stars Felix (Doc) Blanchard and Glenn Davis. After graduating from Parsons High School in 1955, Gary fulfilled his childhood dream of attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he was a member of the Class of 1959. In his junior and senior years, he was a guard on the academy’s first two lightweight football teams, both of which went undefeated and beat Navy. After West Point, Gary was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. From 1966 to ’67, he flew UH-1B helicopters in Vietnam and was awarded both the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star Medal. In his 26-year Army career, he rose to the rank of colonel and served at duty stations around the world and across the country. His assignments included resident engineer in Saudi Arabia, area engineer at West Point, N.Y., construction battalion commander in South Korea, and director of plans and training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He also worked in the office of the Army’s chief of engineers in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. From 1982 to ’85, he was the commander of the St. Louis District for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Mississippi River. In St. Louis, Gary oversaw operation and maintenance of waterway navigation on the river, as well as completion of construction of the Clarence Cannon Dam on Mark Twain Lake. He was also in charge of the design and construction of an $850 million lock-and-dam replacement on the Mississippi that, at the time, was the largest single-site project in the history of the Corps of Engineers. In 1970, while still in the Army, he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering at the University of Illinois. He was a registered professional engineer in Virginia—and later in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin—and was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Association of the United States Army, the Society of American Military Engineers, the Masons, and Rotary. Gary wed Nadine Pedlar, also of Parsons, Kans., on September 2, 1962. They were married for more than 61 years and built a life filled with family, adventure, and travel. Early in their marriage they lived in Karlsruhe, Germany—where Gary was an Army airplane pilot—and toured throughout Europe. They raised two children while moving every few years between far-flung Army posts, including when Gary was a student at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kans., and the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. In all, Gary and Nadine moved more than 20 times during his military career. After retiring from the Army in 1985, Gary worked as an engineer for CH2M Hill in Milwaukee, where he was the director of the city’s $2.3 billion water pollution abatement program. This complex project utilized an innovative deep-tunnel in-line storage approach, which reduced overall program costs by hundreds of millions of dollars. Gary then moved on to manage the company’s regional operations throughout the Great Lakes Region and the Upper Midwest. He and Nadine lived in Wisconsin for 15 years before moving to Parker, Colo., where he continued his work for CH2M Hill with a focus on overseas telecommunications programs. Gary spent much of his time abroad, managing projects in Malaysia, Spain, and Germany that made more than $4 billion in capital upgrades for communications providers who needed to modernize their networks to support digital and cellular platforms. Each of these programs required assembling and managing multinational teams made up of hundreds of members. During this period, Gary also managed the fast-track upgrade of communications and data systems in the Pentagon in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He crowned his career at CH2M Hill by serving as program controls manager for CLM, the consortium responsible for directing the construction of the $8 billion London Olympics Program. In less than six months he established a fully operational design and construction management office with a staff of more than 140 personnel. Gary retired from the firm in 2008, though he continued to consult with CH2M Hill for years after. He and Nadine moved from Parker to Gladwyne, Pa., in 2024. Gary was a positive, upbeat friend to all; his favorite words were super and marvelous, and he could fill a room with his big smile and resounding laugh. He led with confidence and good judgment, while never losing his sense of humor or readiness to enjoy life. He loved tennis, golf, hunting, skiing, watching Army football, a good glass of wine, and spending time with his family. Gary is survived by his daughter, Cynthia Beech Lawrence, and her husband, Christopher; his son, Mark Beech, and his wife, Allison; and his four grandchildren, Anthony, Miranda, Nate, and Annie. He was preceded in death by his wife and his older sister, Colene. A service celebrating Gary’s life will be held at the West Point Cemetery in West Point, N.Y., on a date to be determined. Please refer back to www.chadwickmckinney.com for service details.

Gary D. Beech

April 15, 1937 - September 4, 2026