Beck, Charles A.

Charles A. Beck, prominent Miami mining operator and district industrial pioneer, died at 6:15 o'clock Thursday evening at his home, 121 E Street northwest. A lifetime resident of this area, Beck, 60 years old, rose from a job as teller in the old First National Bank of Miami to become president of the Beck Mining and Royalty Company, a director of the First National bank, a director and organizer of the Northeast Oklahoma Railroad Company and an officer in several other commercial undertakings. His death was attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage, his physician said. Funeral services will be conducted at 2:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon at the First Presbyterian church. The Rev. Harry W. Curtis will officiate. Pallbearers will be Ray McNaughton, L. A. Wetzel, Dewey Sims, Russell Hawk, John A. Robinson and C. H. Mullendore. The mining company, in which he and his brother, the late George W. Beck, were associated since about 1916, is one of the oldest active major Tri-state district firms in production. Beck's company, with extensive real estate holdings, played an important role in locating the B. F. Goodrich rubber plant here. Several large tracts of land, including that portion on which the plant was built, were controlled by his firm, as were many of the northwest Miami acreage into which the city has expanded in the past five years. As an officer in the Miami Heights Building company, the city businessman also arranged for erection of many of the new homes which were constructed during the war years. He was a member of the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian church and had been a director in the Miami Chamber of Commerce. Beck also headed the Miami Mining Company and was a former director of the Tri-State Zinc and Lead Ore Producers Association. Prior to his first illness about two years ago, the Miamian had been an active outdoor sports enthusiast. This interest in hunting and fishing led to the only political appointment of his career as a member of the State Game and Fish commission under Gov. Leon C. Phillips. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Charles A. Beck; two sons, Richard H. Beck, Rockdale addition, and George Willis Beck, of the home; two daughters, Mrs. Buford Carden, Tulsa, and Betty Jo Beck, of the home; a brother, J. B. Beck, Miami, and five sisters, Mabel Beck, Miami; Mrs. Mayme Rogers, Miami; Mrs. Jess Wilks, Tulsa; Mrs. Bess Watkins Kansas City Missouri, and Mrs. S. C. Fullerton, Sr., Miami. Burial will be in G.A.R. cemetery at Miami, under direction of Cooper funeral home.