Richard T. "Dick" Bealmear

Richard T Bealmear passed away on Saturday, December 6th at the age of 84. He was born on February 6, 1941 and spent most of his life as a proud citizen of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the city of Louisville. His parents were Francis Marion Bealmear and Mary Ellen (Powell) Bealmear both from Louisville, Kentucky.
Richard graduated from Trinity High School as a member of the class of 1959 and was part of the team that won Trinity's first state championship in any sport for Cross Country in 1957. Later he attended Bellarmine College (now University), lettering in Cross Country and Track graduating in 1963 with a degree in Secondary Education. He also earned a Master's Degree in Secondary Education from Spalding University and a Rank I certification in guidance counseling from Western Kentucky University. After graduating from Bellarmine, he served in the United States Navy from 1961 to 1963.
Professionally he taught and won state championships in both Cross Country and Track & Field at Trinity and Ballard High Schools. The state championship at Ballard was the first for that school. He was also the first Trinity graduate to win a state championship as both an athlete and coach. He was voted the State of Kentucky AAA Cross Country Coach of the year in 1967, 1971 and 1972. Additionally, he was one of the first coaches in Kentucky to urge the state to sanction a state cross country meet for female runners.
Later he continued to have a tremendous impact on students across the Louisville Community as a Guidance Counselor at Meyzeek Middle School and later Crosby Middle School retiring from the Louisville Public School system in 1996. In addition, he was a successful cross-country coach at Bellarmine University from 1983 until 1992. Upon retirement he was quite active with the Louisville Genealogy Society and supporting Trinity High School as a volunteer in numerous capacities.
Richard is survived by his wife of 62 years Judith (Capito) Bealmear, his son Craig Bealmear and his wife Alison Lupel and his daughter Julie Parker and her husband Dana Parker. He is also survived by his younger brother James "Jimmie' Bealmear; his brother Donald Bealmear passed away in 2014 from ALS. He was known as Pops by 4 grandchildren; Joshua William Bealmear, John Richard Parker, Emma Carolyn Parker and Anna Christine Parker. He also was a loving uncle to numerous nieces and nephews.
Richard was a proud member of number Halls of Fame at Trinity High School, Ballard High School, Bellarmine University, the Kentucky Track and Cross-Country Association and recipient of the Keystone Award as outstanding middle school counselor in Jefferson Country Kentucky.
More importantly he leaves a tremendous legacy in terms of the number of students he taught and counseled and the number of athletes he coached at both the high school and collegiate level. It was well known in the family that it was hard to travel anywhere with Richard and not run into either a former student or parent of a student who he touched is ways great and small.
Visitation will be held at the St. Matthews Ratterman Brothers Funeral Home located at 3711 Lexington Road, Louisville, Kentucky 40207 on Saturday December 13, 2025 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Services will immediately follow visitation starting at approximately 12:00 pm also at Ratterman's in St. Matthews. There will be a gathering of family and friends following the services at Saints Pizza Pub & Sky Bar located at 131 Breckenridge Lane. Burial will be conducted privately with just the immediate family at a later day and time.
The family would also like to thank the staff of the Reserve in Spring Hill, Tennessee and Gentiva Hospice for the care they provided to our husband and father in his last few days.
In lieu of flowers the family would like donations to be made in his memory either to Trinity's Class of 1959 Memorial Scholarship, to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or the ALS Foundation.