Robert Thomas Beach

Robert T. Beach, Sr. passed away on May 29, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. He was born on July 28, 1943 in Ossining, NY and grew up in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. As a teen he achieved local fame by swimming across the widest part of the Hudson River with a time of 2 hours and 21 minutes. He attended Croton-Harmon High School, the State University of New York-Delhi, and Kent State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Architecture.

Robert Beach was a longtime resident of Kingsport, TN, where he had his own small architectural firm. He was an active member of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church and its Knights of Columbus council. He designed the current church for St. Dominic’s parish in the 1980s. Later, he lived and worked in South Bend, IN, and Daphne, AL. He was an amateur vintner who lost most of his extensive home-fermented wine collection to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2019 he moved to Tampa to be near family members.

His parents, Annette Gray Beach and Buhl F. Beach, Sr., and his two older brothers, Buhl and William Beach, preceded him in death. He is survived by his four children: Maria Beach and her spouse Philip Yates, Robert Beach, Brian Beach and his spouse Sharyn Beach, and Nicole Beach. Sharon Beach, his former spouse of thirty-one years, also survives him. He leaves behind four grandchildren: Mikaela Spencer and her spouse Mitchell Spencer, Rowan and Simon DuPriest, and Nicholas Beach, as well as three nieces: Theresa Clarke, Malie Beach Smith, and Michelle Beach Simmer.

A small funeral mass will be held at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Tampa. The family will hold a future memorial service and interment at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY when they can gather together safely. They would like to thank the staffs of The Colonnade at Carrollwood in Tampa and The Brennity in Daphne, AL for taking excellent care of him during his final years.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Catholic Charities, Diocese of St. Petersburg, Inc., https://www.ccdosp.org/donate/.