Giles Walter Beeker ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11}

   FamilySearch ID: LHK9-YQ4.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Census in 1930 in Ogburn Station, Forsyth, NC. ¹² The 1930 census recorded owning a $2500 home: Willie J. Beeker, commercial salesman for wholesale grocer, 39, living with wife Clara D., 39; Willie V., 14; Clara M., 11; Melvin M., 9; Giles W., 6; Edna L., 6; and Charles H. 2 years 1 month on April 24 when the census was recorded. They and their parents were born in North Carolina.

2. Census in 1940 in Cotton Grove, Davidson, NC. ¹³ The 1940 census recorded Willie J. Beeker, farmer, 48, living with wife Clara I., 48; Melvin, section hand on railroad, 19; Giles W., farm laborer, 17; Edna L., 16; Harby, 12; Annie H., 9; and George W., 6. All were born in North Carolina.

3. Residence: on 4 Dec 1943 in Fort Jackson, Richland, SC. ¹

4. Census in 1950 in Litaker Township, Rowan, NC. ¹⁴ The 1950 census recorded Giles W. Beeker, runs service station, 28, living with wife Ada R., 25; and son Terry W., 3. Everyone was born in North Carolina.

5. Residence: on 13 Dec 1962 in Salisbury, Rowan, NC, USA. ^{2 6}

6. Cause of Death: Giles died in the North Kannapolis Jail from self-inflicted hanging, asphyxia, "hung himself with his jacket", "chronic alcoholism", 9 Dec 1973, North Kannapolis, Rowan, NC. ⁵

7. Occupation: nursing assistant in VA hospital on 9 Dec 1973 in North Kannapolis, Rowan, NC. ⁵

8. Residence: Rural Rt. 11 Box 577, Salisbury, NC on 9 Dec 1973 in Salisbury, Rowan, NC, USA. ⁵

9. Newspaper: Courthouse News Service, 2 Sep 2025, Napa, Napa, CA. ¹⁵ NAPA, Calif. (CN) \emdash Friends and wine might mix, but friends and wine businesses seldom do.

A Napa County judge on Friday denied a request by Inglenook, a winery owned by famous director Francis Ford-Coppola, asking for a favorable decision in its lawsuit over 26 "stolen" wine tanks that were supposedly sold off by a former business partner.

Napa County Superior Court Judge Cynthia P. Smith said that Coppola's winery failed to show that a default judgment was "permitted and/or appropriate" under the circumstances against the defendant George Giles Beeker, whom court documents describe as Coppola's former "right-hand man."

In her ruling, Smith challenged Inglenook's claim that the Godfather director's former associate defaulted on its lawsuit, noting that although he hadn't responded to the winery's amended complaint, he had sufficiently responded to its original suit in previous court filings.

"Through that answer, Giles Beeker specifically and explicitly denied any 'conspiracy, fraud, or theft' and alleged a number of additional facts that serve, effectively, to deny other elementary allegations of the complaint," Smith ruled.

The court issued its decision in a tentative ruling, which was later adopted at an in-person hearing at the Napa County Historic Courthouse, without oral argument.

However, the judge's decision was followed by a brief interruption from Beeker, who appeared at the hearing over the phone, sounding frazzled.

"Hello? Hello? This is George Beeker. I've been unable to get much done because of an injury," the defendant chimed in on Zoom, shortly after the judge issued her decision.

Beeker reportedly had not read the judge's tentative ruling and was unaware the judge had sided with him.

"I'm trying to get counsel so I can get some help with this," he said.

The judge informed Beeker that she denied Inglenook's request, but that she couldn't talk to him without Coppola's attorneys present.

"If you want to be heard on these matters, you have to call the court and the other side. Otherwise, it's not appropriate for me to be talking to you right now," Smith told the defendant.

Beeker thanked the judge and left the hearing shortly after.

Coppola's winery sued Beeker in 2024 for $2.1 million in damages, claiming fraud and breach of contract, among other causes.

The winery claims that sometime after Beeker was hired by the company as an independent contractor in 2019 to provide "construction consulting" and "related services," he embezzled funds from Coppola's winery by submitting fraudulent invoices that misrepresented the work he performed and materials he used.

The winery also stated that in 2021, it purchased 26 fermentation tanks for winemaking, valued at approximately $2 million. It claims that sometime later in 2022, Beeker told the company he was in talks of selling the tanks to local winemakers Calistoga Vintner Services, but that he moved the tanks to a storage facility in Fresno, California, after negotiations fell through.

Inglenook claims that instead of moving the tanks into storage, Beeker sold the "stolen" fermentation tanks to Calistoga for $1.2 million, a price reportedly well below their actual value.

Inglenook is also suing Calistoga for knowingly receiving stolen property.

Beeker has maintained his innocence in court filings, saying that "there was neither fraud nor theft" in the case of the fermentation tanks.

"The sale and price was sanctioned by owner, and all proceeds from the sale were used to repair and improve the property titled to plaintiff's affiliate, Sofia Properties L.P." Beeker said.

Beeker said the lawsuit is directly tied to another lawsuit between himself and Coppola's winery, involving millions of dollars in financial assistance that he received from Coppola to purchase a home in November 2021, which he still currently resides in with his family.

When Coppola's chief financial officer at Inglewood, Gordon Wang, refused to approve the director's offer to loan Beeker $1 million so he could close the deal on his home, Beeker says Coppola instructed his company to buy the home outright.

Although the resulting financial arrangement put him in a bind, Beeker said he "valued his friendship with Coppola more" and trusted that he would "do the right thing."

Beeker claims that Inglenook tried to evict him from his home sometime in 2024, sparking the separate lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Inglenook did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

George Giles Beeker could not be reached for comment.

Giles married Ada Ruth Koon, daughter of James Stickley Koon and Ada Rosanna Reid, on 4 Dec 1943 in Columbia, Richland, SC.¹ (Ada Ruth Koon was born on 22 Mar 1925 in , Rowan, NC,¹⁶ died on 4 Apr 2005 in Salisbury, Rowan, NC, USA ¹⁶ and was buried on 6 Apr 2005 in Salisbury: Saint Pauls Lutheran Church Cemetery, Rowan, NC ^{10 16}.)