Gary Gordon Beckman

HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER (Papa), DOCTOR, SPORTS TEAM DOCTOR, ARCHITECT, MATHEMATICIAN, AVOCADO FARMER, LICENSED COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL CONTRACTOR, CARPENTER, USC FOOTBALL ALUMNI, ARTIST, MUSICIAN, LICENSED PILOT, MARINE, DIVER, WORLD TRAVELER, SURFER, SALESMAN, LICENSED BARTENDER…

He managed to become all of this successfully but still ALWAYS put his family first. He never missed a single one of his kids sports events or important life milestones, but how? How can one man fit this many accomplishments in one lifetime, and still put family before self? Vacations to Mammoth Mountain to fish, Santa Barbara for the beach, scout trips to the High Sierras, surf trips to Oceanside, date nights to Sportslook Pizza and to the movies, movie and candy nights with the family… we never had to guess how much he loved us because we were his world. He adored his Barbie, and she adored him. Together they made a great team and provided the perfect home for our family unit.

Gary graduated from Huntington Park High School and went on to school at USC to pursue a degree in Architecture. After losing a bet at a USC football game to his Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brothers, he was forced to tryout for the football team and ended up playing as a USC Trojan. Gary was known as the Rudy of the USC team. The famous Coach John McKay was quoted saying “If half the team had the heart Gary Beckman has, we would be unstoppable.”

After he felt like he obtained what he needed from the architecture program, he changed his major and graduated with a degree in Public Administration / City Planning. While attending USC he also took several classes in art and design at the Art Center in Pasadena. After graduation, he decided to move to Hawaii to work in the pineapple fields and surf. He loved his time in Hawaii, but those who knew Gary knew he couldn’t sit still.

He decided that it was time to serve our country. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He completed basic training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and while in officers training at Quantico in Virginia to become a pilot, he had a serious service related injury to his back and spent six months in the hospital. After receiving an honorable discharge due to permanent back pain, he began a career in sales. With his ability to talk to anyone, he found much success. He worked for multiple organizations ranging from pharmaceutical sales to Chris and Pits BBQ Sauce.

Again, Gary was restless and knew he wanted to travel the world. With $500 in savings he decided to get a bartending license and use the $500 for a one way ticket overseas. For two years he traveled all over Europe, bartending, and exploring while moving from youth hostile to youth hostile. He loved sharing stories of those with whom he met and lived.

After returning to the States, he used his skills in sales and landed a job as a sales representative for Soule Steel. This is where his love for commercial construction began. It was also at this time that he purchased an original 1965 289 Shelby Cobra. He loved working on cars, and having this legend of a car was one of his dreams come true.

Gary was hired away from Soule Steel as one of the first project managers for a company by the name of Schneider Langston. He built projects for Ford Motor Company as well as the Irvine Pre-delivery Service Center.

It was in 1975 when Gary met Barbara, the love of his lifetime. As a true entrepreneur at heart, it was at this time he decided to start his own commercial construction company, Beckman Construction. He was successful in the commercial space and also used his architecture experience from USC to design and build speculative homes in the residential sector as well. It was at this point in his life when he began to build a home for his family, and a home for his mom in Fallbrook, CA.

In 1979, After dating for a little over 4 years Gary asked Barbara for her hand in marriage. He would often talk about how he wished he would have met his Barbie sooner and married her right away had he known how amazing she would be.

In the 80’s Barb and Gary began building their family. Loni was born in 1982 and two years later they welcomed their second child, Blaine. It was at this time they began to realize that construction was heading towards recession as a result of the high inflation of the 80’s.

After some major convincing and even some trickery, Barbara and Gary’s mom Lillyan enrolled Gary back in school to complete his biology degree, and within four years he earned his Doctorate and graduated 2nd in his class in the field of Chiropractic.

He opened his practice in Temecula, California. He loved helping others. If he didn’t have to put food on the table he probably would have refused to accept payment from anyone. He used to hate having someone pay for his service when they weren’t feeling well.

In 1990, Gary and Barbara welcomed Lauren, their third child to the family. As Gary continued to develop and build on their property in Fallbrook, he also began farming 900 avocado trees and 300 lime trees. He was successful at farming, but his focus was always on being a provider and spending time with family. Family was more important than any amount of money the world had to offer.

Gary enjoyed donating his time as a team sports doctor for all of his children’s athletic teams, creating any excuse to attend every practice. Both Gary and Barbara provided a home with love and compassion as well as teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Gary loved music, with his love for Elvis and old classics from the 50’s always on repeat. He would pull his guitar out and sing Can’t Help Falling In Love, Can’t Grow Peaches on a Cherry Tree, and You are my Sunshine. Yet no matter how loud the music was turned up, he would immediately stop it if he had the opportunity to listen to his three kids sing. He was their biggest fan.

As Loni, Blaine, and Lauren grew and started their own families, Gary and Barbara decided to follow them and relocate to Boerne, TX. Gary again used his talents in architecture and construction and designed and built a new home in Texas overlooking parts of the hill country providing a location for all of his family and grandchildren to come make memories together. Heavenly Father provided a path for all of the three children and their families to move within 30 minutes of each other in Texas.

In 2020, with little advanced warning, Gary was diagnosed with Stage IV Colorectal Cancer and given 5 days to 6 weeks left to live. Gary fought for three years with the unwavering love and primary care from his wife. With a beautiful wife, all of his children and grandchildren surrounding, he had every reason to fight, and he did just that. Through weakness and pain he continued to attend family functions and his grandchildren’s sporting events. On February 6th, 2024 Gary’s battle with cancer ended, and he returned to be with his Heavenly Father. He passed peacefully in his home with Barbara, Loni, Blaine, and Lauren at his side and holding his hands. It was the way he always said he wanted to go.

If you asked Gary how he accomplished so much while always putting family first, his answer was simple…keep your faith in Heavenly Father, love your family, and everything else will fall into place. If you knew Gary, you knew him. You would always hear about his family, his wife, and every detail about our lives. Our sports, our music, he lived for those around him. His empathy for everyone around him, stranger or friend, was always before himself.

Gary is survived by his wife Barbara, his three children and their families; Loni (Russ), Blaine (Mimi), and Lauren as well as 6 grandchildren (Ace, Kaz, Kru, Citizen, Indi, and Eisley). All of those he loved dearly.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday March 2, 2024 at 11:00 AM at the Boerne LDS Chapel, 203 Stonegate Rd, Boerne, TX 78006.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Gary Sinise Foundation, which honors defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need.

www.garysinisefoundation.org