Harley Eldon Beard

Harley Eldon BEARD Air Force and Boeing Test Pilot, passed away at his home in Lake Stevens on January 3, 2007. The oldest son of Harley Orestus Beard and Katherine Mildred Diehl, he was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 2, 1924. He resided for many years in Bellevue and on Mercer Island. He graduated from Dearborn High School in 1941 and enrolled at Wayne State University. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942. He earned his pilot wings and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on February 8, 1944. He served a WWII combat tour in Europe as a B-24 Liberator pilot with the 831st Bombardment Squadron (H) and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, four Air Medals, and the Purple Heart. After the war, he was stationed abroad in Guam and Korea. He was a graduate of the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School. In 1957 he joined the Boeing Company as an experimental test pilot. He served Boeing as a test pilot and flight crew training instructor around the world until his retirement in 1984. He flew developmental work on the Boeing B-52, KC-135, the 707 prototype, 707,727,737, 747, and 767. In retirement he continued his involvement in aviation and was building his own airplane at the time of his death. Harley was a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, a member of the Quiet Birdmen, The Fifteenth Air Force Association and the Experimental Aircraft Association, serving as the President of EAA Chapter 84. Harley married Berniece Sophia Menze on July 8, 1944, the couple divorcing in 1962. In 1970 he married Janet Veljer Wolf and remained married until her death in 2003. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wives, a brother, Kenneth, and two great-grandchildren. He is survived by his brothers, Ronald of Dunedin, Florida and Lee of Ridgeville, Indiana; four children, Gary of Bellevue, Neal of Vancouver, Washington, Nikki of Mt. Angel, Oregon, and Scott of Indian Trails, North Carolina, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson. Throughout his life, Harley was an avid hunter and fisherman. He loved music and archeology. He loved to cruise, crab and fish in the San Juan Islands. A Funeral Service will be held at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, January 14, 2007 at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, 10420 SE 11th St., Bellevue, WA. A Graveside Memorial Service with Military Honors will be held at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at Tahoma National Cemetery, 18600 240th St., Kent, WA. The family suggests remembrances to the Museum of Flight, 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Tukwila, WA. 98108-4097 (www.museumofflight.org); (206)764-5720.