Joseph Edward Beck Jr., our beloved husband, father, Gran and Great-Gran, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at the age of 87.
He is survived by his devoted wife of 59 years, Beverly; his three children, Joe (Shawn), Gerry, and Lori (Jay); grandchildren, Rachel (Richard), LJ, Nelson, Wil (Dez), Benjamin, Caroline, Jessica, Jake, Abby, and Noah; two great-grandchildren, Sterling and Grayson, and Violet, to join us shortly.
Ed was born and raised in Richmond. At a young age, he fell in love with cars and motorsports. Ed could always be found in the pits under the hood whether it be the early days of NASCAR or as a member of the Virginia Creepers Hot Rod Club. He also loved basketball and was part of the John Marshall High School team that would win two consecutive state championships before graduating in 1955. He studied civil engineering at Virginia Tech and graduated with the Class of 1959. During his time at Virginia Tech, he would serve 18-plus months in the Air Force.
Ed left his mark in Richmond, Fredericksburg and Middlesex County while working for VDOT. He was the resident engineer in the Saluda office from 1968 to 1974.
He would return to Blacksburg as the public works director and later came back to Richmond to take over his father’s business, Beck’s Inc. After selling this business and spending several years with VEPCO, Ed would go to work for Chesterfield County becoming the assistant director of utilities until his retirement at 70.
Although his education, employment and achievements were impressive, nothing mattered more to Ed than his relationship with Christ, his beautiful bride and family. He loved filling his retirement days with crab picking, trips to his favorite dirt tracks, traveling with Beverly (mostly to warmer weather), several trips to Las Vegas Speedway, pulling for the Nationals, finding the best fried oysters in town, enjoying a soft serve from Jimer’s and spending plenty of time with family and friends.
No matter where Ed lived, his roots were always firmly planted in a church home (Urbanna Baptist Church while the family lived in Middlesex County). For 17 years that church home has been Cloverhill Church. He was beyond excited to see the growth taking place in Chesterfield County and across the world through Cloverhill’s obedience to God.
There will be a celebration of life at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 13, at Cloverhill Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Cloverhill Church, 12310 Bailey Bridge Road, Midlothian, VA 23112.
