In the 1950s, Lewis Beall was living in Tahiti and contemplating his future. He made two important decisions, to become a teacher and to not worry about or be motivated by money. Mr. Beall returned to the University of California Los Angeles, where he earned master's degrees in zoology and education. Then he started a career in education that spanned decades and included work as a teacher, principal and superintendent. He was superintendent of the Chula Vista City School District from 1984-1988.
Mr. Beall died November 16, 2000 of cancer at the San Diego Hospice Care Center, said his wife, Mary Elizabeth. He was 72. Born in 1928 in Pasadena, Mr. Beall graduated from San Marino-South Pasadena High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in science from the University of California Berkeley. His graduate studies at UCLA were interrupted by service in the Coast Guard, as a deck officer, during the Korean War.
Then, adventure called. Mr. Beall and a friend, Dick Blank, spent two years traveling the world. They reported on their experiences in a series of columns for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, which billed the trip as an "Around-the-World Hitch-Hike." They began their travels with $750 each. It was during this trip that Mr. Beall visited Tahiti, where he lived with a local family and fished and prepared split coconuts with his hosts.
Mr. Beall earned a doctorate degree in education from the University of Southern California. He began his education career as a science teacher at Monrovia High School. He served as an assistant principal and principal in the Anaheim school district; assistant superintendent in the Desert Sands and Azusa unified school districts; and superintendent of the Azusa and Chula Vista school districts.
"Every day of his educational career was a thrill to him, and he loved every moment of it," his wife said. "He had a very, very happy career."
For the past 16 years, the Bealls have lived in Coronado.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Beall is survived by his daughter, Lori Lynn Couture of Coronado; son, Scot Lewis Beall of Milan, Italy; brother, Andy of Santa Ana; and four grandchildren.
San Diego Union Tribune, November 21,2000
