Albert E. 'Skip' Beech Jr., 92

MAITLAND, Fla. - Albert E. "Skip" Beech Jr., 92, of Maitland, Fla., passed away quietly at his home on March 31, 2016, surrounded by his loved ones.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Vera; his parents, Albert and Estella Beech; brother Charles Beech; and sisters Phyllis Baker, Evelyn Calhoun and Elsie Blakemore.

Al Beech was born April 28, 1923 in Wellsville.

He was a four-year varsity basketball letterman for his beloved Wellsville Tigers and it was there he met Vera Swearingen, who would be the love of his life. They married after graduation in 1942, and soon afterward he joined the Army, serving his country the next three years during WWII in the China/Burma/India theater.

After the war, he graduated from Kent State University with a degree in physical education and took his first coaching job at Augusta High in central Ohio. After only a year, he decided to pursue his education and earned his Master's in PE from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Upon graduation he was hired as head basketball coach at Gainesville High and later coached at Mayo Lafayette High, where he led the Hornets to the state championship game in 1956. He then moved on to Orlando Edgewater when it was one of only three high schools in the city. After two years there, he branched out into the school picture business with Henington Studios. Within eight years he started his own company, Al Beech School Picture Service, which he successfully ran until 1998 when he retired. At its peak in the 1980s, Al Beech SPS had virtually every elementary and middle school in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Hillsborough counties under contract as well as part of the state panhandle.

In his later years, he and Vera extensively traveled the country and the world and enjoyed their summers in their second home on the Ohio River back in their hometown of Wellsville.

He was a devoted fan of the Florida Gators and his fall weekends were for the most part planned around their football games, which he never missed.

He is survived by his daughter Robin; his son Rex (Susan); his grandsons Tyler and Alex Beech; his sister Jean Flasco; and his brother Jack Beech.

He was a handshake kind of guy whose word meant everything and he touched the lives of so many young people in his time; both former players and friends of Robin and Rex who came to know and love him over the years. His favorite saying whenever anyone left his home, either just for the evening or an extended trip, was always the same: "keep it between the ditches "

He and Vera are together again now for eternity, as they both always wanted.

A visitation is set 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 29, at Roberts Funeral Home, Wellsville.

Donations, though unnecessary, can be made to Guiding Eyes for the Blind (Guide Dog School), the National World War II Memorial, or St.