Hubert James Beach III's Obituary
Hubert James Beach, III, age 67, of Fairfield Bay, AR passed away on Sunday, June 6, 2021, at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, AR.
He was born on May 14, 1954, in Memphis, Tennessee to Hubert James, Jr. and Evelyn (Merrell-Gonzalez) Beach. He is preceded in death by his loving wife of twenty-three years, Rebecca Yancy Beach.
Jim graduated from Loyola University, New Orleans with a Bachelor of Criminal Justice, cum laude, in 1984. He holds a master’s in management from Bellevue University, summa cum laude, 1995.
He was a police officer in Memphis, Tennessee from 1973-1981 where he worked mainly patrol with assignments in Fraud and Document, Dispatch, Public Relations, Burglary, Photo Lab, and Community Relations.
In 1981 he began work as a Special Agent and Investigator for the Union Pacific Railroad Police Department. He was the Director of Training for the department in Omaha, NE, 1989-1995. He was responsible for setting up full department training standards and procedures, organized, and wrote most of the department’s policies and procedures to national standards, was assigned lead agent for executive protection and security details at 5 national political conventions from 1996 to 2008 running both the details for the DNC in Denver and the RNC in St. Paul.
His final position was Captain over the Dallas Division, at one time supervising 29 investigators in TX and OK.
He was an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Intelligence, 1988-1995 Belle Chase (New Orleans) Naval Base, Fort Leavenworth, KS, where he worked in support of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
Jim worked the active-duty intelligence desk at Strategic Command, which controls the nation’s nuclear arsenal at Offutt AFB, Omaha, NE. He also did active duty at the DIA and the Pentagon, including briefing members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on strategic intelligence issues. He also provided stateside support of Operation Desert Storm.
He was a Firearms Instructor Trainer, Master Level pistol shooter, Defensive Tactics Instructor, and Interview & Interrogation Instructor.
Jim was a member of the Dallas Joint Terrorism Task Force for the U.S. Attorney General's office.
Additionally, he taught a Deadly Force Decision Making course for police instructors at the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers Seminar in Washington DC. He published an article in the ASLET Journal on the same subject.
He worked diligently to research and preserve the history of railroading and the Union Pacific with a heavy emphasis on Special Agents. He was instrumental in helping establish a memorial for agents who lost their lives in the line of duty, His research led him to information about a number of agents he was able to add to this memorial.
He did extensive research and exploration of rail beds of the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad and its impact on the area, economics, as well as labor and racial divides that followed its demise.
He was the go-to guy for information about the privatization of law enforcement services by railroads from the Pinkertons to the present day.
He studied naval military history intensively, especially the success and failures of intelligence in wartime and during the post WWII espionage between two world superpowers.
His knowledge and expertise in his field led both A&E and the History Channel to feature him in documentaries. ("Railroad Police" Trains Unlimited, 50 mins, The History Channel & "Blood on the Tracks" Search for the Railroad Killer, Rafael Recendez A&E, 50 mins)
He was a skilled musician who played the guitar, the drums, the mandolin, the dulcimer, and the mountain dulcimer. He once came in third at a dulcimer competition at the Folk Center in Mt View (narrowly beating out an eight-year-old).
Jim was the first King of the Krewe of Jesters at Fairfield Bay's Boati Gras (which he masterminded and started upon retiring to the Bay).
His compassion and strength of character compelled him to offer service in the private sector as well. He was a volunteer mentor for the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court in Kenner, LA as well as for the Tarrant County Juvenile Probation Office in Ft. Worth. After his retirement from service for Uncle Pete (UP railroad) he served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for the 20th Judicial District in Arkansas.
He is survived by his three children, Henry Beach of Rose Hill, Virginia, Matthew Beach and fiancé Casey Bowman of Fayetteville, and favorite daughter Molly Beach of Fayetteville; his brother Danny Beach and wife Lisa of Kittrell, NC; his favorite sister Elizabeth Beach and fiancé Patrick Hicks of Fairfield Bay, AR; and a host of adoring nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, colleagues, and friends.
He was keeping score yet never revealed who the favorite cousin was.
Jim loved his family, his friends, his job, and his life whole-heartedly and gave of himself one hundred percent.
He has been to every state in the Union and traveled around the world. He is now out exploring new worlds and new adventures.
His cremation is under the care of Nelson-Berna Funeral Home in Fayetteville.
There will be a 'Purple-Tie" Celebration of his life in Fairfield Bay at a later date. Details will be announced as the event details are confirmed.
What’s your fondest memory of Hubert?
What’s a lesson you learned from Hubert?
Share a story where Hubert's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Hubert you’ll never forget.
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