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19 October 2007, 04:04 PM
Henry C. Beck Jr.: Dallas skyline owes much to builder
He grew Beck Co., founded by his father, into a global business
09:20 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 17, 2007
By JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News
jsimnacher@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/obituaries/stories/DN-beckob_17met.ART.State.Edition1.41f6a83.html
As a child, Henry C. Beck Jr. would accompany his father to construction projects being built by the family business. As a teenager, he learned the business from the ground up as a laborer and handyman.
The family business had already built an impressive number of Dallas landmarks, including the Cotton Bowl, when Mr. Beck's father died in December 1948.
But it was Mr. Beck – yet to celebrate his 31st birthday when his father died – who would take the company to new heights.
Under his leadership, the Henry C. Beck Co. not only built much of the present Dallas skyline but handled projects around the world, including the launch pads from which man left for the moon.
Mr. Beck, 89, died Monday of natural causes at UT Southwestern University Hospital.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Thursday at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. A reception will follow at Brookhollow Country Club.
While Mr. Beck had an excellent financial mind and a keen understanding of business leadership, he also knew the key role that field managers played in his company's success, said his son, Henry C. "Peter" Beck III of Dallas.
"What he loved most were the people in the organization," said Peter Beck, managing partner of what is now The Beck Group.
Mr. Beck had a special fondness for his supervisors and project managers, Peter Beck said. "They were so critical to getting the job done, often in difficult circumstances," he said.
Mr. Beck was a humble man who didn't understand why he was being recognized for honors he received late in his life, his son said.
His civic work included being a founding board member of Shelter Ministries of Dallas, which supports the Austin Street Shelter and Genesis Women's Shelter.
"Every so often, privately ... he would ask me, 'Why are they honoring me?' " Peter Beck said. "I came to realize that he saw himself as a fairly simple man. Despite a lot of the things that he did accomplish, he really didn't see himself as being very much different from anybody else."
Mr. Beck also was a loving father, said his daughter, Spindrift Beck Al Swaidi of London.
"He was a wise counsel and a quiet listener," Mrs. Al Swaidi said. "He always encouraged the best, not only in his family, but in others."
Born in Shreveport, La., Mr. Beck grew up in Dallas.
In 1934, he graduated from Highland Park High School, built by the Beck company. That summer, he worked as a laborer, digging ditches for water and sewer systems that the Beck company was building in Glen Rose and Dallas.
Mr. Beck's father started the business in 1912 in Houston and moved it to Dallas in 1922.
Mr. Beck received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and joined the family business in its Atlanta office. He later did graduate studies at Harvard Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He continued building during World War II as a Navy lieutenant with the Seabees, working on projects in the Philippines.
After the war, he rejoined the Beck company as a vice president in 1946. He became president upon his father's death and was named chairman of the board in 1973.
Under Mr. Beck's leadership, the company flourished. It won contracts to build the Adolphus Tower, Frito-Lay Building, Medical City Dallas, NorthPark Center, the Apparel Mart, 6060 North Central Building, Thanks-Giving Square, Hotel Crescent Court, the Automobile Building in Fair Park and the Dallas Hyatt Regency and Reunion Tower.
"Several years ago, I could look out of the window and count 23 buildings we had built," Mr. Beck told The Dallas Morning News in 1980. "Today I can see between 30 and 40 of our buildings from here," his 46th-floor office in downtown Dallas.
He was on the boards of First National and Republic banks, Dallas Power and Light Co. and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Co.
He also served with many civic, educational and religious organizations. He was a director of St. Mark's School of Texas and was a lifetime director of the Episcopal School of Dallas. He was a trustee of The Hockaday School, St. Alcuin Montessori School and the Lamplighter School.
He was an active member of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, where he served as senior warden three times.
He also served on the executive board of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.
In addition to his son and daughter, Mr. Beck is survived by his wife, Nell Orand Lynch Beck of Dallas; two other daughters, Patricia Beck Phillips of Lucas, Texas, and Kalita Beck Blessing of Dallas; Mrs. Beck's children, Bruton Lynch, Peter Lynch and Joseph Lynch, all of Dallas, as well as Podie Lynch Torrey and Vinnie Lynch, both of New York, and Alexander Lynch of Greenwich, Conn.; and 12 grandchildren.
He grew Beck Co., founded by his father, into a global business
09:20 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 17, 2007
By JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News
jsimnacher@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/obituaries/stories/DN-beckob_17met.ART.State.Edition1.41f6a83.html
As a child, Henry C. Beck Jr. would accompany his father to construction projects being built by the family business. As a teenager, he learned the business from the ground up as a laborer and handyman.
The family business had already built an impressive number of Dallas landmarks, including the Cotton Bowl, when Mr. Beck's father died in December 1948.
But it was Mr. Beck – yet to celebrate his 31st birthday when his father died – who would take the company to new heights.
Under his leadership, the Henry C. Beck Co. not only built much of the present Dallas skyline but handled projects around the world, including the launch pads from which man left for the moon.
Mr. Beck, 89, died Monday of natural causes at UT Southwestern University Hospital.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Thursday at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. A reception will follow at Brookhollow Country Club.
While Mr. Beck had an excellent financial mind and a keen understanding of business leadership, he also knew the key role that field managers played in his company's success, said his son, Henry C. "Peter" Beck III of Dallas.
"What he loved most were the people in the organization," said Peter Beck, managing partner of what is now The Beck Group.
Mr. Beck had a special fondness for his supervisors and project managers, Peter Beck said. "They were so critical to getting the job done, often in difficult circumstances," he said.
Mr. Beck was a humble man who didn't understand why he was being recognized for honors he received late in his life, his son said.
His civic work included being a founding board member of Shelter Ministries of Dallas, which supports the Austin Street Shelter and Genesis Women's Shelter.
"Every so often, privately ... he would ask me, 'Why are they honoring me?' " Peter Beck said. "I came to realize that he saw himself as a fairly simple man. Despite a lot of the things that he did accomplish, he really didn't see himself as being very much different from anybody else."
Mr. Beck also was a loving father, said his daughter, Spindrift Beck Al Swaidi of London.
"He was a wise counsel and a quiet listener," Mrs. Al Swaidi said. "He always encouraged the best, not only in his family, but in others."
Born in Shreveport, La., Mr. Beck grew up in Dallas.
In 1934, he graduated from Highland Park High School, built by the Beck company. That summer, he worked as a laborer, digging ditches for water and sewer systems that the Beck company was building in Glen Rose and Dallas.
Mr. Beck's father started the business in 1912 in Houston and moved it to Dallas in 1922.
Mr. Beck received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and joined the family business in its Atlanta office. He later did graduate studies at Harvard Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He continued building during World War II as a Navy lieutenant with the Seabees, working on projects in the Philippines.
After the war, he rejoined the Beck company as a vice president in 1946. He became president upon his father's death and was named chairman of the board in 1973.
Under Mr. Beck's leadership, the company flourished. It won contracts to build the Adolphus Tower, Frito-Lay Building, Medical City Dallas, NorthPark Center, the Apparel Mart, 6060 North Central Building, Thanks-Giving Square, Hotel Crescent Court, the Automobile Building in Fair Park and the Dallas Hyatt Regency and Reunion Tower.
"Several years ago, I could look out of the window and count 23 buildings we had built," Mr. Beck told The Dallas Morning News in 1980. "Today I can see between 30 and 40 of our buildings from here," his 46th-floor office in downtown Dallas.
He was on the boards of First National and Republic banks, Dallas Power and Light Co. and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Co.
He also served with many civic, educational and religious organizations. He was a director of St. Mark's School of Texas and was a lifetime director of the Episcopal School of Dallas. He was a trustee of The Hockaday School, St. Alcuin Montessori School and the Lamplighter School.
He was an active member of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, where he served as senior warden three times.
He also served on the executive board of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.
In addition to his son and daughter, Mr. Beck is survived by his wife, Nell Orand Lynch Beck of Dallas; two other daughters, Patricia Beck Phillips of Lucas, Texas, and Kalita Beck Blessing of Dallas; Mrs. Beck's children, Bruton Lynch, Peter Lynch and Joseph Lynch, all of Dallas, as well as Podie Lynch Torrey and Vinnie Lynch, both of New York, and Alexander Lynch of Greenwich, Conn.; and 12 grandchildren.