Mark Alexander John Beaumont

1951 - 2018

Mark Alexander John Beaumont

Rhinebeck - Mark Alexander John Beaumont died peacefully at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Poughkeepsie, on Friday 19 January.

Mark's parents were John Beaumont, from Northern Ireland, and Nina Beaumont, née Edge, of Cheshire in England who met at the Bletchley Park wartime listening base, married in Washington DC after the war, moved to London where Mark was born in 1951 and then to Cheltenham. A stay in Singapore brought tragedy to the young family with the untimely death of Mark's much-loved father when Mark was just six.

Mark's talent for photography took him first to college in London and then into professional photography. In 1976, he took a job organising cruise ship photography, sparking a whole career in cruise entertainments and management with the Swire Group in the far east, Clarkson's in London and then Cunard in New York. Cunard introduced him to the love of his life, Maryann Gula, who managed Cunard's onboard events and entertainment.

They married in St Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue in 1995 with receptions at the Waldorf Astoria and on board the QE2. They lived first on Long Island but, after leaving Cunard, Mark pursued independent consultancy which took them to Florida where Katherine was born in 2000.

Mark had come close to death from cancer in 1986 and it was to return again and again, blighting his health and later career. The family moved briefly to Maryland then back to Long Island, where Maryann continued a successful career in the arts. John was born there in 2005.

In 2011, they moved to Rhinebeck where Mark loved walking his dogs and taking pictures at airshows. He pursued a less demanding line of work developing multimedia materials for clients and friends including the St George's Society, the Caledonian Club, the American Scottish Foundation and the Allied Forces Foundation.

Over 35 years he went nine rounds with cancer and won eight, thanks to the Sloan Kettering hospital in New York amongst others. Those extra decades were wonderfully well spent with Maryann and the kids.

Mark leaves Maryann and children Katherine and John in Rhinebeck, as well as his brothers and mother Nina Horwood, now 93, in the UK. A simple cremation was held in Poughkeepsie. Celebrations of Mark's life will follow. Details will be posted at www.facebook.com/MAJBeaumont.