BECKWITH, George Henry

George Henry Beckwith, age 69, was born on December 25, 1933, in Missoula, Montana. He was raised in St. Ignatius, Montana where he learned a strong sense of family values, a love for sports and a sound work ethnic. He attended Gonzaga University where he earned a degree in Civil Engineering. George proudly served as an officer in the United States Army where, among other postings, he commanded a combat engineering company based in Frankfurt, Germany. He settled in Phoenix in 1959, became a professional engineer and co-founded Sergent, Hauskins & Beckwith, a geotechnical consulting engineering firm where he worked for 39 years on a wide range of mining and construction projects in Arizona and throughout North America. George developed expertise in a number of specialized areas, including tailings dam design, foundation design, flood control and earthquake engineering. He presented papers at international conferences. Upon "retirement," he worked as an independent consultant on a variety of international and domestic projects. He is a former president of the Arizona Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers and has been honored as a distinguished alumnus by his alma mater. George was an avid reader with a particular love for history. His travels took him to five continents and fed his life-long love of learning. He also appreciated the outdoors and had explored every corner of his beloved adopted state, Arizona. George is survived by his beloved wife Joan, and his children John, Christiana and Julie, from his first wife Katherine Ferretti Beckwith who passed away in 1982. George touched many lives and will be greatly missed by friends, associates and family. A rosary will be said on Wednesday, June 18, 2003, at 7 P.M., Whitney & Murphy Arcadia Funeral Home, 4800 E. Indian School Rd., Phoenix, AZ. Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, June 19, 2003 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 4715 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ. Published in The Arizona Republic on 6/18/2003.