Stan Beason Dies at 44

Who is Stan Beason? You should be so lucky to know:

Though he never ran for public office himself, he was known for challenging elected officials through his involvement in quasi-political civic organizations.

For example, he proposed an African-American monument for the courthouse lawn when he was on the county tourism committee. Then, when his idea morphed into a multicultural monument that he didn’t support, he worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to try to win a prominent place on the courthouse lawn to recognize black history.

He also butted heads with the Caroline Board of Supervisors over its treatment of a historic jail on the courthouse green, and with the Bowling Green Town Council over its refusal to support a new visitors center in town and, recently, its treatment of Donachy, whom the council fired earlier this summer.

Though he was known for speaking his mind, Beason was admired because he wasn’t all talk, said Cleo Coleman, who worked with Beason through Historic Port Royal Inc.

“He wasn’t so much a presiding officer of anything, but a hard worker,” she said. “He was an idea person and a person who was diligent about completing whatever task needed to be done.”

I never knew the man personally, but I knew of him. Godspeed, Mr. Beason.