USMC Retired
Robert Beard was a devoted son, loyal brother, dependable husband, and loving father. Born to Lawrence Beard and Evvie Saunders Beard in Bossier City, Louisiana, Robert was the youngest boy of seven children. After graduating high school, he served our nation for twenty years in the United States Marine Corps, traveling the country and world. In the Corps, Robert served primarily as an auditor and ascended to the rank of Captain, earning his bachelor’s degree along the way. Robert was an avid outdoorsman who could be found hunting, fishing, and boating the woods and waters of his home state. A fan of all kinds of music, he imparted a fondness for artists from Kris Kristofferson to Otis Redding to Elton John onto all his children and other loved ones. Robert was also a baseball player and bowler in his younger days, always followed the national playoffs of most sports, and rooted for the LSU Tigers and New Orleans Saints. He enjoyed family life and loved attending to repairs, renovations, and weekend projects in his home and yard. He took every chance he could get to teach these skills to his children.
Robert passed away after a lengthy battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative neurological condition. Our husband, father, and brother will be dearly missed for the rest of our days. He is survived by his wife Virginia Pinckard Beard; brothers Ronald and James; sister Dorothy; children Robert, Jr., Jason, Clay, Khristy, Angela, and Jackson; former wife Masako; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. He is preceded in death by his father Lawrence and mother Evvie, brothers Weyman and Charles, sister Martha Jean, and former wife Patsy.
A service will be held at Centuries Funeral Home on October 15, 2019, at 10:00am. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to CurePSP at psp.org.
