John BEASLEY

1939 - 2019

BEASLEY, John Franklin (1939-2019) John "Jack" Franklin Beasley, age 79, attorney at law, beloved husband, father, grandfather, friend to all he met, and true gentleman, died peacefully on April 20, 2019, at his home on Lake Hartwell in Fair Play, South Carolina. Jack was the son of Benjamin Franklin and Zella Pearl Beasley and was born in Decatur, Georgia on September 14, 1939. He attended South West Dekalb High School where he played football and baseball and excelled in academics. He went on to attend Vanderbilt University and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity where he formed friendships that lasted the rest of his life. true to the SAE creed, he was a man whose conduct proceeded from good will, whose deed followed his word, who thought of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own, and who appeared well in any company. Upon graduation from Vanderbilt, Jack worked his way through Emory Law School in part as a counselor at YMCA Camp Pioneer where he engaged in adventures that would be retold countless times in years to come. After graduation from law school, he worked as an administrative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C. Then, in 1967, he embarked on a legal career with Southern Bell, later BellSouth then BellSouth Enterprises, ultimately retiring as Vice President and General Counsel. During his years as in-house counsel, he worked across the globe as the company grew into one of the world's foremost telecommunications conglomerates. After retirement from BellSouth in 1996, he concluded his practice in the law with the firm of Kilpatrick Stockton where he was of counsel and later partner, specializing in communications law at the national and international level. While his passion was the law, he was a devoted husband and father, ensuring that his children and step-children had opportunities he might never have dreamed of having grown up as the son of a small-town jeweler in rural Dekalb County. He certainly would not have imagined a life that would take him from fishing for bream in the ponds of the old Mathis Dairy Farm to fishing for peacock bass on the Amazon River. Nor would he have imagined a life that would begin modestly on Glenwood Avenue in Decatur, Georgia but lead to many summer months enjoying wine with Annette and friends in the South of France. As exotic as all this may have been, for him it would not compare to the simple pleasures of cooking on the grill, eating breakfast at Waffle House, vacationing on the beaches of Pawley's Island, teaching his children to fish and love the outdoors, cracking jokes at countless dinners with friends and family, and sharing his love of literature, art, music, and theater with everyone he knew. In later years, Jack enjoyed a peaceful retirement, spending time entertaining with Annette on Lake Hartwell and sharing in the community of his church home at Fair Play Presbyterian Church where he thoroughly loved singing with the choir and giving the young disciples' sermons. Jack was preceded in death by his father Benjamin Franklin Beasley and his mother Zella Pearl. He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Annette, and their daughter Keri Kennedy, his children John Franklin Beasley, Jr. (Marisa Pagnattaro), Ben Beasley, Vanita Solomon (James), Jeremiah Beasley and his mother's daughter, Christina, as well as his beloved grandchildren Simone and Sophia Beasley and Menemsha and Lincoln Solomon. A private graveside service for immediate family will be held on, April 23, 2019, at the Fair Play Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Fair Play, South Carolina, with Reverend Mel Davis, officiating. For those who so desire, in lieu of flowers, memorial donations in memory of Jack may be made to "The Jack Beasley Memorial Fund," Fair Play Presbyterian Church, 201 Fairplay Church Road, Fair Play, SC 29643.