MARYSVILLE — Community residents will honor retired judge and community activist Donald Charles Beaman at a memorial service Wednesday.
Beaman, a lifelong Marysville resident, died Monday. He was 89.
A 1932 graduate of Marysville High School, Beaman was active in Boy Scouts of America and served as a scoutmaster. For 31 years, he served as a volunteer firefighter with the Marysville Fire Department.
Beaman served as a Snohomish County judge for 33 years, presiding over municipal courts in Marysville, Lake Stevens and Stanwood.
Cascade District Court Judge Jay Wisman recalls his first case as a lawyer in 1970 when he represented a man in a traffic case in front of Beaman.
Wisman walked into Beaman’s night court and "won hands down without hardly any work at all because the officer didn’t show up or something," Wisman recalled.
"I always attributed my first win to Don Beaman, even though it was a win by default."
After that trial, Wisman talked with the judge and learned that Wisman’s father had worked with Beaman at the shipyard in Everett during World War II.
Years later, Wisman succeeded Beaman as Marysville’s municipal court judge, serving 10 years.
Wisman believes Beaman was one of the last lay judges in the state. Some small jurisdictions hired lay judges, people who were not attorneys.
Beaman’s tenure as judge was in a much-more relaxed environment than today. His wife worked with him at his insurance business in Marysville, and also doubled as his clerk in night court.
On the surface, Beaman sometimes appeared gruff.
"If you didn’t know him, you’d think, ‘Oh boy. He’s an old grouch.’ But he was a very likable person, and he really cared about his community of Marysville," Wisman said. "I never saw him do anything hurtful. He always came off a little gruff. It was just his bark, not his bite."
Beaman also served on the Marysville Civil Service Commission, the Snohomish County Park Board, the Marysville Downtown Revitalization Society and the Marysville Historical Society board of directors, on which he was a past president.
He was born about 100 yards from the town’s business core near Ebey Slough, and at one time took tickets at the Bijou Theater, where the Marysville Town Center mall is now.
He and his wife, Edyth Solvberg Beaman, had two sons.
Survivors include his wife, a son, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home, 804 State Ave.
Donations in his memory are suggested to the Marysville Historical Society.
Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.
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