I loved Charlie so much.  I am so sorry to hear that he has passed.  I will always love him. He was one of my best friends.  I still cannot believe that he is gone. 

Happy Birthday my old friend!  You’re on my heart and mind today as I remember all the fun, laughter and carefree days of our youth! I know  you’re in a place of peace!

William (AKA “Billy”)

When we received the heartbreaking news my younger cousin Charlie Mark had passed away, my husband Charles recalled one of his favorite memories of Mark.  He wrote the following and shared with Mark's mother Mary Alice and siblings Carolina, Frank and Alice.  Seems a wonderful memory to share here as well of our free spirited, lively, curious, one of a kind cousin.  Katherine Beal Frazier

 "My favorite and indelible memory of Mark is when he was living outside Blowing Rock in a house on 221 across from Bass Lake.  I used to go there to run on the Cone Estate trails, and the parking lot was right across from Mark’s house, so I saw him some then.  If he was outside, I’d walk across the road and we’d visit.  I remember standing in the yard or sitting on the front steps of that house several times talking. This would have been mid-to-late 70’s, probably. (Actually, it was in the 1980s)  But the time I remember the most was taking a walk or maybe a jog on the trails around Bass Lake with Mark.  We were coming back around the lake, talking a mile a minute, and then suddenly Mark stopped talking and practically dived over the steep bank between the trail and the water.  He scrambled around in the weeds by the lake and came up with a good-sized snake.  He carried it by the neck up the bank and showed it to me and then let it go.  And then we went on with our conversation as if nothing had happened.  I’ve always thought there was so much youth and energy and curiosity and life in that moment.  And that's how I'll always remember Mark. "  


Hi Addendum;
Other great memories include hanging out with the kid that lived 3 doors down on Fernwood on the right past Rembert Drive. He had a CB radio base station and we’d talk to truckers on US 70 on channel 19.  Very cool stuff for young kids in the 70’s!  Speaking of trucks on US 70, there used to be an apple tree on the corner of Rembert and US 70, and when the apples were in season we’d throw them at the trailers of the trucks going by for fun. We never tried to hit the cabs or cars, but the sound they made as they splattered against the side of the trailers was similar to a firecracker.  Also, hanging out at Napier’s gas station and mini mart, a great family owned place where  the folks lived in separate housing attached to the back of the simple cinder block building. 

For the record, I was up at 1AM Saturday morning writing stuff off the top of my head, so forgive me if some of the details from almost 45 years ago were a little skewed. That Bob Seger album was actually Night Moves from 1976, and Richie’s Trans Am was also a ‘76....had the “screaming  chicken” emblem on the hood,  again very cool stuff for boys in the mid 70’s,  and this was before Smoky and the Bandit put that car on center stage! Also, I think Frank actually made $1.60/hr. but nonetheless it was still a mind boggling amount to Mark and I at the time! 
Currently, I’m spending the weekend at our family beach house located on the mainland side of the intercoastal waterway across from Emerald Isle. It’s an old fisherman’s bungalow build in 1931 that my father bought and restored many years ago, retaining a lot of the original features. It’s exactly the kind of place Mark would love, and as I sat on the covered porch looking out over the water listening to Night Moves once again on my iPhone and thinking of Mark,  I could feel his presence, his energy, right there with me....been a long time my old friend!!! Yeah,  he’s in a good place, and of this I’m sure!😎

(Continued from first post)

Also, there “ might” have been a time when Mark decided to borrow someone’s yellow/creme colored Lincoln Town Car, and we “might” have taken it out on Glenwood Avenue to Umstead Park and back, and....we “ might” have been going at speeds of up to 90 mph over those rolling hills on a joy ride, well before the time anyone really appreciated the virtue of wearing a seat belt!  Yep, that “ might” have been the first “boat” he captained over the waves! I clearly remember him making that analogy flying over those hills in the Town Car with the soft suspension, so go figure!! Ahhhhh....but perhaps...that “ might” have been just a dream. You know, my memory is not what it used to be nowadays!😏. 

It’s a rare relationship where two people never have a cross word for each other, but Mark and I had that type of friendship.  Mark was always very genuine and authentic, and he made it easy for others to be likewise. Unfortunately, Mark and I drifted apart around 1979-1980 when we were about 17 and lost contact, just various life circumstances, but Mark will always be truly treasured! It sounds like he continued to live his life to the fullest doing the things he loved to do, and that in the end is a life very well lived!! As for myself, I believe that Mark’s spirit and essence continues to live on in that other dimension, behind  the veil that physical sight and sound cannot penetrate, and in my heart I see him clearly. A brother from a different mother, we will always be kindred spirits!


I grew up with “ Mark” in Raleigh, and  he was easily one of my best if not THE best friend in my early childhood years! He always had such a great positive energy about him! Fun loving, spontaneous, adventurous and hilarious!! 

Yes, Mark was a really gifted fisherman from an early age, way better than myself. I always marveled at his sheer proficiency and ability to reel them in, and for his part he never was particularly egotistical about his skill set, we just simply had fun together, be it fishing or otherwise. I remember summer days with Mark, fishing with cane poles in Crabtree Creek back when you could actually eat the fish you caught in it, and catching brim with our zebco 202s at Umstead Park Lake. I remember jamming out with Mark to Bob Seger’s “Stranger in Town” album in the family room at his house on Fernwood Drive, and the “boujee” intercom system they had in the house! The pure excitement and joy Mark had as he showed me what I believe was his biggest fish to date at that time, a 5 pound largemouth bass, and how he had it mounted to display...shooting BB guns...baseball practice batting in his back yard by pitching baseballs into a net and hitting them as they returned to us...shooting basketball on the  way too high “12 foot” goal set up on the carport eaves/roof....Mark and I hanging out with the local quasi-motorhead Richie Richmond with the ‘79 Trans Am on the other end of Fernwood...going to the Cardinal Theater in North Hills to watch “ Kelly’s Heroes “ for a birthday party. I also remember Mark’s mom cooked squash one night as part of their dinner, and that was the first time I had ever seen or heard of the yellow veggie! Today, I love squash so thank you Mrs. Beal! I remember how Mark and I thought Frank was rolling in dough because he was making $1.75/hr. working at Red Lobster!😂 

(Continued on second post)

OBITUARIO

Charles Marcus Beal

14 junio, 1963 – 1 septiembre, 2020

Mitchell Funeral Home at Raleigh Memorial Park

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