G. Nelson Bevard

G. ‘Nelson' Bevard, As he lived, so too did he pass to another adventure in another space & time - with grace & dignity…peacefully…Ever the gentleman. A member of the marching band on bassoon, the two-time Letterman, Bevard, was an awardwinning rifleman and varsity member of the Penn State University Rifle Team, a sharpshooter, who never killed for sport. He was a winner of many championships (in fact, advising Army Captain Vias asked him once to please ‘stand down' so others could win…) leading Penn State to be ranked #12 in the Nation. Set to be Captain in 1952, the rifle, swim, fencing, ski and golf teams were all dropped by the University for lack of state and federal funding, in response, Bevard petitioned President Truman, then Eisenhower to allow the university teams to remain in existence. ROTC at Penn State, Midshipman Bevard was one of 1600 Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps midshipmen who trained aboard the USS Missouri traveling to Panama and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 1951. His image (pictured) was an official U.S. Navy promotional piece. Upon graduation, he became a First Lieutenant aboard the USS Rockbridge which toured the Mediterranean during the end of WWII. In true Lion spirit, never one to shy from a challenge, when the Captain asked who would dive into the sea, he was the first in from the upper deck! His time in the U.S. Navy changed the direction of his life. It sparked his love of this planet and her people and gave him a vision of how he might contribute to the world as a Forester, Civil Engineer, and ultimately, Environmental Engineer. To catch a mere glimpse into his fascinating life, just open one of his many passports. His wife and daughter were his number one priority, (along with any kind of little critter he might bring home- never knew what kind of naked critter would crawl up out of his pocket during dinner…rescued baby squirrels, raccoons, etc), but as he entertained with his harmonica and dry sense of humour, he taught all who knew him to view the world through rose-colored glasses, to embrace all, to understand we are all just people on this earth with more similarities than differences, to marvel at those differences and to never walk in fear…He worked on global projects from Colombia to Sudan to Iran to Vietnam, Canada, Honduras, the Arctic Circle, in the USA and countries in-between. He taught local people to grow fish in rice paddies, to cultivate coffee for export, to care for water - he touched the lives of thousands. The last boat he hand built was a 42-foot schooner, helicoptered off the mountainside of his Vancouver, BC home when he moved to Thailand. An entrepreneur his entire life, his scope spanned from egg sales and milk delivery, to hand-hewn backyard/beach chairs, Ecuadorian shrimp export, and wooden boatbuilder. He loved nature. He traded stock every day of his life from the1950's until the day he died. The rich tapestry of Nelson Bevard's life is a testament to the foundation a University education can provide. His lifelong friends, like Philip Clark & Professor Henry Gerhold, were all Nittany Lions and the Mont Alto campus remained one of his favorite places on earth. His wife of 57 years, Helen Pearl Toothman Bevard, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University Medical School, passed January 12, 2012. Nelson is survived by his loving daughter Cynthia English; a sister, Carol A. Rand; brother, Paul Bevard and numerous nieces and nephews currently in North Carolina. He would be most honoured to be remembered and to have you plant a tree to celebrate life and the planet.