Steve Beason

BEASON, STEVE Steve Beason, World War II Navy Veteran, died September 8, 2006 at Lake Forest Nursing Home, Lake Forest, CA. Steve was born to Steve and Mildred Beason at Orion, KS. He moved to San Diego in June of 1942. Memorial, Celebration of Life Service will be held Sunday, September 24, 206 at 2:00 p.m. in the University Christian Church located at 3900 Cleveland Avenue and the corner of Richmond, in the small chapel in San Diego. Steve was a long time resident of San Diego. He graduated from Kearny High School in 1944. He lettered in basketball, boxing and track while in high school. He was sworn into the Navy one day before his 18th birthday on June 20, 1944. He received training in radio-communications and served in the South Pacific on the Gladiator, a minesweeper with a crew of 106 sailors. The Gladiator swept for mines along the coast of Guam, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima. They were on their way to the coast of Japan when the war ended. After his discharge from the Navy in June of 1946, Steve used his GI Bill to attend San Diego State College, graduating in June of 1950 with a BS degree in Physics, and Engineering. In college he was a four-year letterman in track. He did the mile, two-mile and cross-country run. In his third year of college he was president of Inter-fraternity Council. He was elected Student Body President in his senior year. In the summer of 1950 he was entered in the N.C.A.A. track meet at St. Paul and at the University of Maryland A.A.U. meet. On his return to San Diego, he was employed at Convair as an electronic engineer. In April of 1960 he accepted a job with North American at Downey, California. He was Senior Research Engineer in Instrumentation on the Apollo shot. After the Apollo shot and the landing of a man on the moon 50,000 space engineers were laid off from their jobs in California. Steve was one of them. He later did independent contract work and worked for Golden Boy Pies in San Diego. He and his college sweetheart, Joan Alice Mullen were married on August 20, 1950. They had four children: Stacey Nunez (Mrs. Joe Nunez) of Mission Viejo, CA, Candace Beason Varner (Mrs. Alan Varner) of Pasadena, CA, Paige Beason Wesley of Sonoma, CA. Steven Blain Beason preceded his father in death in Topeka, KS. Steven had been basketball coach at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka. He has five grandchildren, Ashley and Laura Beason, Topeka, KS; Kevin and Matthew Varner, Pasadena, CA; Trent Nunez, Mission Viejo, CA. Steve has three living sisters and one brother, Virginia Hunt, San Diego, Nixie Koelling, Lawrenceburg, IN, Muriel Cook, formerly of Manhattan, KS, now residing in San Antonio, Wade (Carroll Lee) Beason, San Diego, and Helenurl (Patsy) Bryant, Lake Tahoe, CA and many nieces and nephews. Please sign the guest book at obituaries.uniontrib.com