Joseph Robert Beicher Sr. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

   FamilySearch ID: L6BM-7G4.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Census in 1930 in Minersville, Schuylkill, PA. ⁷ The 1930 census recorded renting at 305 South Delaware Avenue: John Beicher, 29, living with wife Dorothy, 30; John, 2; and Joseph, 2. Everyone was born in Pennsylvania except Dorothy and her parents in Lithuania.

2. Census in 1940 in Minersville, Schuylkill, PA. ⁸ The 1940 census recorded renting at 720 Pine Hill Street: John Beicher, miner, 40, living with wife Dorothy, 40; son John, 12; and son Joseph, 12. Everyone was born in Pennsylvania except Dorothy in Lithuania. They lived in the same house in 1935.

3. Newspaper: The Daily News, 5 Feb 1945, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ⁹ A recent news item reported that the Beicher brothers headed a contingent of local teen-agers into the service of the United States Navy, most of them, if not all of them, Lebanon high school students in the senior class. What many probably did not know is that the Beicher brothers are twins and were teammates on Lebanon high school athletic teams for the past several seasons. In fact, the Beicher twins, John J. and Joseph R., respectively, played Lebanon high school football and baseball together and, incidentally, will be lost to the Cedars when the 1945 baseball season rolls around. It is also of more than ordinary note that the Beicher twins are probably the first Lebanon County twin brothers who have played sports together as teammates to enter the same branch of the service of their country together.
Joe, it will be recalled, was a stalwart guard on the Cedar football varsity last fall and was a hard-hitting outfielder on the baseball team while covering right field on Sammy Angle's Red and Blue baseball team. He gave away a lot of weight to rivals as one of Lebanon's front line stalwarts in football, but most of them knew they played against a boy named Beicher in every game of the 1944 grid season.
John was a wingman in football and when injuries reduced Coach Scoop Feeser's end material, the lad jumped right into the breach to fill in one of the terminals in the manner expected and was considered a regular wingman right down to the end of the season. In baseball he held down first base as a classy fielder and would have been depended upon by Coach Angle again this season.
They are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. John Beicher, of 357 North Harrison Street, and will long be remembered as the first set of twins to stamp their names on Lebanon high school athletic annals and the first local twins who were active in high school sports to enter the service together. May they return home together safely and sound.

4. Military from 21 Feb 1945 to 7 Jul 1946 in Lancaster, Lancaster, PA: WW II: US Navy U.S.S. Shasta AE-6. ¹⁰

5. Occupation: unemployed on 8 Jul 1946 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹¹

6. He was described as 5' 9" 170 lbs blue eyes brown hair ruddy complexion on 8 Jul 1946 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹¹

7. Residence: 358 Harrison St., Lebanon, PA on 8 Jul 1946 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹¹

8. Occupation: dispatcher on 22 May 1948 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹

9. Residence: 1142 Old Cumberland Street in Lebanon on 25 May 1948 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹

10. Newspaper: Daily News: Wedding Photo of Mrs. Joseph R. Beicher, 5 Jun 1948, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹² Mr. Joseph R. Beicher, the former Betty Jane Hutchinson of 193 South Second Avenue, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Luther Hutchinson, of 361 North Tenth Street, was married in St. Mary's of the Assumption Catholic Church recently. Her husband, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Beicher, of 1142 Old Cumberland Street, is employed by J. M. Bruner, of Philadelphia.

11. Residence: on 21 Dec 1948 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. ¹³

12. Census in 1950 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. ¹⁴ The 1950 census recorded at 1522 North 15th Street: Joseph Beacher [sic], clerical work in telephone company, 22, living with Betty, 23, switch board operator in telephone company. They were born in Pennsylvania.

13. Newspaper: Lebanon Daily News: "Mrs. Florence Yocum, and daughter Nelli Jane, of 361 North Tenth Street, are spending the week in Alexandria, Va., visiting Mr. And Mrs. Joseph Beicher and son.", 2 Jul 1952, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹⁵

14. Residence: on 29 Dec 1952 in Alexandria, Alexandria, VA. ¹⁶

15. Residence: on 20 Apr 1955 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA.

16. Newspaper: Lebanon Daily News: Hutchinsons Hosts At Party For Family, 20 Dec 1955, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹⁷ Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, 361 North Tenth St., entertained their family on Sunday afternoon at a Christmas party at their home. They have nine children, 20 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Carol singing was led by Joey Beicher. Others taking part in the program were Joanne Rhine, Luther and Rickey Hutchinson, Luther and Dennis Corcoran and Tommy Beicher. Raymond Corcoran appeared in a guise of Santa Claus and gave gifts to the children. The adults also exchanged gifts, and a buffet luncheoa was served. Joseph Beicher Sr. showed a film, "The Spirit of Christmas." A total of 45 family members were present.

17. Residence: on 20 Feb 1959 in Camp Hill, Cumberland, PA. ¹⁸

18. Residence: on 29 Jun 1963 in West Springfield, Fairfax, VA. ¹⁹

19. Newspaper: Gettysburg Times: Property Transfers: "Charnita, Inc., to Joseph R. And Betty H. Beicher, Springfield, VA., two tracts in Liberty Twp. For $7,000.", 16 Feb 1968, Gettysburg, Adams, PA. ²⁰

20. Newspaper: Lebanon Daily News: Property Sales: "Premises on southside of Maple Street, Lebanon, from Cedar Valley Development Corp. To Joseph R. And Betty H. Beicher, all of Lebanon, for $23,000.", 30 Mar 1973, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ²¹

21. Newspaper: Lebanon Daily News: Property Sales: "Premises on south side of Maple Street, Lebanon, from Joseph R. And Betty H. Beicher, Springfield, Va., to Edwin C. And Kathleen K. Kercher, Lebnaon, for $24,500., 11 Jan 1974, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ²²

22. Newspaper: Lebanon Daily News: Property Sales: "Premises on south side of Maple Street, Lebanon, from Joseph R. And Betty H. Beicher, Fairfax County, Va., to Samuel B. And Elva M. Boughter, Lebanon, for $28,900., 1 Sep 1975, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ²³

23. Newspaper: 26 Oct 1977, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ²⁴ Lebanon Daily News: Property Sales: "Premises at 216 Maple Street from Joseph R. and Betty H. Beicher, Springfield, Va., to Richard A. and Patricia A. Immel, Lebanon, for $29.500.

24. Residence: on 15 Jun 1984 in Roswell, Fulton, GA. ²⁵

25. Residence: 560 Oakhaven Dr, Roswell, GA, 30075-1224 in 1987 in Roswell, Fulton, GA. ^{2 6}

26. Occupation: CEO of Beicher, Inc. At 560 Oakhaven Dr., Roswell, GA 30075 from 1988 to 1994 in Roswell, Fulton, GA. ²⁶

27. Residence: 7842 Greeley Blvd., Springfield, VA 22152 on 1 Jan 1995 in Springfield, Fairfax, VA. ²⁷

28. Residence: 850 Brookfield Parkway, Roswell, GA 30075 on 10 Jan 2009 in Roswell, Fulton, GA. ²⁸

29. Obituary: Northside Chapel Funeral Directors: obituary of Joseph Robert Beicher on 9 Apr 2018 in Roswell, Fulton, GA. ³ Joseph Robert Beicher, age 90, passed from this earth to return to his Lord on April 9th, 2018. He was an amazing man who made the most of his gifts from God and the generous time he was granted to be with us. He and his high-school sweetheart bride, Betty, would have been married 70 years in May. He had three children with sons and daughters-in-law, three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Mr. Beicher grew up in a modest home with his twin brother in Pennsylvania working hard to help support the family during the Great Depression. They raised chickens and hens and grew vegetables for food, and times were tough as his father and other family members had been coal miners who lost their jobs when the mines closed. At about age 9 or 10, he and his brother were picked up at 4:00 in the morning by a neighbor who owned a bakery to deliver bread before school. He said one of his proudest moments was when he handed his mother a one dollar bill that he had earned for the week of delivering bread. When he was 11 or 12, his father and uncle dug their own 100-foot deep "coal hole" where he and his brother would climb down a ladder then haul coal up in buckets to sort, break up with a hammer and hope to fill a truck load in a week and sell. This was done after a full day in school. A truckload would sell for $10 which the family had to live on for the week. This is where his strong work ethic determination were no doubt born.
In high school, he played football and met Betty, the beautiful majorette. She thought he had stood her up on their first date because he didn't show up to meet her after the game. She found out the next day that he had been in the hospital with a concussion. Fortunately, she believed him, and they've been together since.
Also in high school, he was among a group of Senior boys who enlisted in the military to serve in WWII and were allowed to graduate in February to start their service. He enlisted in the Navy and served on an ammunition supply ship in the Pacific. He later served in Naval Intelligence in the Korean War where he interrogated Lithuanian prisoners who had been sent by Russians. He knew Lithuanian because his mother escaped Lithuania in 1909 as a child fleeing the Russians, and they spoke the language at home.
After the Korean War, he used the GI Bill benefit to earn an Economics degree from Temple University and began a job with Bell Telephone settling into the Telecommunications department. After designing and leading a project for a telecommunications system for a new government building, he was offered a job by the General Services Agency for whom he had done the job. He accepted and worked in that agency before being recognized and offered a job as Program Manager for Communications for a new government agency named NASA.
During his time with NASA, he was responsible for all the communications between all NASA centers in the United States and all the tracking stations around the world. He traveled the world extensively and helped negotiate land leases in many countries for NASA tracking stations. He was also one of five persons appointed by President Jimmy Carter to restructure the entire communications system of the U.S. Government. Upon completion of their report and implementation of their recommendations in 1978, he received a certificate of appreciation personally signed by President Carter. His 21 years with NASA in Washington was an exciting era for him and Betty as they traveled the world, attended galas with astronauts, attended an inauguration ball and many other memorable events. He also managed the books for Betty's fashion store, coached football teams, attended swim meets, played golf and enjoyed life.
Following his retirement from NASA he moved to the Atlanta area to work a few years for Northern Telecom before retiring for good. His three children also moved to Georgia, so the family was able to stay close. He continued playing golf, took up tennis and enjoyed many years of family cruises, Friday night dinners, holiday and birthday meals, and weekly Bingo games and shopping excursions with Betty. He had been attending St. Michael's Catholic Church in Roswell for several years and enjoyed the grace and fellowship he received there.
Those that knew Mr. Beicher will remember his drive, intelligence, toughness, tenderness, generosity and quick wit. He somehow made us laugh or be amazed by a new story that we'd never heard before, or maybe one we loved to hear again. He was proud of and loved his family, and most of all the love of his life, "BJ."
We celebrate his life and cherish the memories we have.
He is an outstanding example to all of us as illustrated in his own words to a group of Alternative High School students at the end of discussion of his life to them:
"When you look back at what I and my family went through during the Depression, and what I attained, it shows you can attain what you strive to do. It's there, just go get it, just work for it, and don't let anything bother you. Say, 'This is my goal; this is what I'm going to do,' and have the drive to do it. Whatever you have as a hardship, it's just a hardship temporarily. You go through that, and as I say, it's there, folks; just go get it."
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at Northside Chapel Funeral Directors between the hours of 4:00pm - 7:00pm.

Joseph married Betty Jane Hutchinson, daughter of Luther Allen Hutchinson and Catherine Hannah Spangler, on 29 May 1948 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA.¹ (Betty Jane Hutchinson was born on 23 Feb 1927 in , Lebanon, PA ^{1 6}.)