A memorial service for Walter Beach was held on Saturday, Nov. 25 at the Cosmos Club, in Washington. Read the remarks by President William G. Durden '71 and the honorary degree citation for Walter Beach..

Memorial contributions may be made to the " Walter Beach Library Endowment Fund" at Dickinson College (Development Office, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013).

Trustee Emeritus Walter Eggert Beach, Class of 1956, died on Monday evening, November 13, 2006. A longtime resident of Washington D.C., Walter had a distinguished career within the political-science community. From 1965-80, he served as staff associate, then assistant director of the American Political Science Association. In 1980, he began a 10-year stint as a senior staff member at the Brookings Institution. During this time, Walter also was a founding member and director of The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. In 1990, he became director of Heldref Publications with the Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, and in 1997 assumed the title of senior fellow with the foundation. Walter also served as director of the International Eye Foundation from 1993-95 and was a trustee of the Hillwood Museum and Gardens Foundation.

Since his days as a student, Walter Beach was the living definition of a loyal Dickinsonian. Promising to raise "Dickinson College" in conversation at least three times a day, Walter spent his lifetime identifying and enhancing Dickinson's visibility and connections in the wider world. With a passion for preserving Dickinson's history, Walter contributed generously to the college's archives, providing many original manuscripts and letters as well as the text of a rare 1764 speech by John Dickinson. And with an eye toward the current and future prestige of his alma mater, rarely a week went by when the college did not receive a newspaper clipping or note from Walter chronicling the accomplishments of current Dickinsonians.

Walter Beach '56 (left) with his brother Allen Beach '55.

His service to the college was equally exemplary. As an undergraduate, Walter was a member of Kappa Sigma and Skull and Key. As an alumnus, he served as an Alumni Council member from 1968-74, as president of the council from 1970-71 and as an alumni trustee from 1984-88. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1988-2005, when he was awarded emeritus status. As the chair of the Committee on Trustees from 2002-05, Walter oversaw a restructuring of the board's committee, policies and procedures at a key moment in Dickinson's history.

In addition to his service on the board, Walter was a lifetime member of the Friends of the Library and a member of The Trout Gallery Advisory Board. He was a past president of the Dickinson Alumni Club, Washington D.C. chapter, and committee chair for the Class of 1956 Dickinson Annual Fund drive. In 1992, Walter was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award to recognize his outstanding service and loyalty to Dickinson and for his professional accomplishments.

Walter's generosity to the college has matched his volunteer activities. In 1999, he and his brother Allen, class of 1955, established the Liselotte von Usedom Beach Scholarship Endowment in memory of their mother. The scholarship supports a sophomore student majoring in German.

The Benjamin Rush statue that stands outside of Old West will remain, without a doubt, the most visible reminder of Walter's extraordinary commitment to his alma mater. The dedication of the statue in 2004 represented the culmination of a more than 40-year effort by Walter, assisted by his brother, Allen, and fellow trustee, Woody Goldberg '63, to bring Dr. Rush back to Dickinson.

Speaking at the dedication ceremony, Walter acknowledged that "it has taken quite a long time to accomplish bringing this historical marker and handsome piece of outdoor sculpture to Dickinson ... if Dr. Rush were able to speak to us today, I think he might want to say that it would have been nice to have been here for all those years ... it is also true that in coming in 2004 he arrives when we have ... a continuing commentary on Rush's life and work, his contributions to America and to Dickinson College."

President William G. Durden '71 said, "It is now our turn to acknowledge the life work of Walter Beach by placing a wreath at the base of the statue of our founder and flying the American flag on campus at half-staff. We have lost a remarkable Dickinsonian whose dedication, accomplishments, enthusiasm and love for life should serve as beacons for us all."