A longtime Meridian educator is being remembered for his dedication to his community.

    Billy Beal, who worked for Meridian Community College for more than three decades, died Monday at Meridian Community Living Center. He was 67.

    Services for Beal will be Monday at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Meridian, with visitation Sunday from 5-7 p.m. at Berry and Gardner Funeral Home.

    MCC President Dr. Scott Elliott said Beal’s passing represents “a tremendous loss, not only to Meridian Community College, but also the entire community.”

     “Billy was a real servant-leader and a consummate professional – one of the most highly respected persons in his field of learning resources in our state and beyond,” Elliott said Monday.

    “He also worked very hard for the betterment of our community as a whole through service to numerous agencies as the Lauderdale County Mental Health Association, Main Street, and the Meridian Redevelopment Authority,” Elliott said.

     “I considered Billy a friend and a colleague, and I will miss him dearly. I know his other colleagues at MCC feel the same way,” Elliott said. “Billy was the first African-American administrator in the college’s history to be named a vice president, and that was a title that he richly earned through his educational preparation, hard work and exemplary performance. In a case like Billy’s, you can try to replace the position, but you can’t replace the person. He was an iconic part of the fabric of MCC.”

     Beal also served as organist at St. Joseph Catholic Church for years, as well as occasionally at St. Patrick Catholic Church, playing on Holy Thursday.

    The Rev. Father Frank Cosgrove, the churches’ pastor, said Beal was an important part of Meridian’s Catholic community.

    “I always thought of him as very intelligent and a good leader,” Cosgrove said. “He was very well thought of, not only at church, but also the larger community and, of course, Meridian Community College. Mr. Beal was a very devoted member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, and very much a part of the larger Catholic community, which includes St. Patrick Catholic Church.”

    “He was very devoted to his faith, even when he was in the hospital and the nursing home,” Cosgrove said. “He received Holy Communion while at both places.”

    Larry Franklin, who met Beal in the 1980s, called his friend “an amazing man.”

    “He called me Lawrence Edwards,” Franklin said. “He called most people by their whole name.”

    “We were very tight, but we didn’t agree on everything. We argued all the time, but that’s part of being friends.”

    Franklin remembers Beal as a well-educated man who could easily converse on any topic.

     “We listened to him,” he said. “When he told you something, you’d better believe it, because he was the real deal.”

    “It’s hard to talk about him without tears,” Franklin said. “He was my partner.”

      A native of Meridian, Beal earned an A.B. from Loyola University of Chicago and an M.S. in library science from Simmons College in Boston. After his academic studies at Simmons, he returned to Meridian where he became circulation librarian at MCC. During his tenure at the college, he served as Self Study Title III director, acquisitions librarian, ACE/HEMI coordinator, computer-assisted instruction supervisor and head librarian, as well as chairman of the Student Appeals Committee.

    In September 2014, Beal was promoted to the position of Associate Vice President for Learning Resources at MCC. He had served as the dean of the College’s Learning Resources from 1992 until he was named to the associate vice president post.

    He was also the recipient of the John Johnson, Lamplighter and Employee of the Month awards as well as installed into the Talon Club, which salutes MCC employees who have served the college for more than 30 years.

    Off campus, Beal was a trustee for the Mississippi Heritage Trust, was president of the Lauderdale County Mental Health Association and is a commissioner on the Historic Meridian Commission. Additionally, he was a member of the American Library Association, the Mississippi Library Association.

    A founding member for the Meridian Council for the Arts, Beal was a former board member of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. He was also a board member of the Meridian Historic Foundation, which became the Grand Opera House, now known as the Mississippi State University Riley Center.

    Beal was preceded in death by his parents, Willie E. and Mary E. Beal, and brother, John S. Beal II. He is survived by a brother, Cornelius E. Beal of Meridian.