Joel Bernard Beckwith ’41 died on June 5, 2004, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Born on August 4, 1918 in Roxbury, MA, he prepared for college at Brookline (MA) High School and what is now Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. Following his graduation from Bowdoin in 1941 he served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II from 1942 to 1946, attaining the rank of lieutenant. After the war, he became assistant treasurer of the South End Hardware Corporation in Boston, a position that he held for many years before beginning his teaching career at Ayer (MA) Junior High School. After teaching English at Arlington (MA) High School from 1965 to 1975, he retired. He was a member of the Hanscom Field Officers Club, the American Legion, and the Lexington (MA) Swim and Racquet Club. In Bowdoin affairs he was a capital campaign volunteer and interviewed prospective students for the Admissions Office. He was married in 1947 to Lois Fredenburgh, who died in 1986, and is survived by a son, Joel Beckwith ’71 of Jamaica, VT; and a granddaughter, Carole Beckwith.