Vernon Howard Beggs of Inverness, FL, passed away on September 18, 2016. He was born in Cypress, Illinois, on December 12, 1917 to Hoyet and Verda (Jones) Beggs. He was the older brother of Carl Beggs.
Vernon graduated from Wood River High School in southern Illinois in 1936. He attended Illinois State Normal University and graduated in 1941 with a Bachelor of Education degree. Vernon worked for Western Cartridge and Shell Oil and as an instructor of Aircraft Mechanics at Chanute Air Base Rantoul, Illinois.
He entered military service in 1943 advancing through flight training as a pilot in the Marine Corps flying PBJ aircraft (B-25). He was commissioned as Lt. Beggs. He married Elizabeth Anne Bothwell on May 20, 1944. His squadron, VMB 613, was deployed to Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands where his unit performed bombing raids on Japanese targets and patrolled for enemy submarines and surface ships.
When the war concluded, Vernon returned to civilian life as an education specialist in Champaign, Illinois. He has two sons, Roger (and Carmen) Beggs of Roswell, Georgia and Richard (and Kathy) Beggs of Johns Creek, Georgia and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.
He worked for 12 years at the Great Lakes Naval Exam Center. During that time, he earned a Master’s Degree in Education. He moved to Connecticut to be the top education specialist in the Submarine School in New London. He stayed active in the Marine Corps reserves and was activated during the Korean Conflict in 1953 serving in Cherry Point North Carolina. He retired from the USMC with a rank of Colonel in 1977. He retired from civil service as the Academic Director of the Naval Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut in 1975.
He was president of the Board of Education in Round Lake, Illinois, and handed out many diplomas to RLHS graduates. He was a Masonic member of Lodge 492 in Libertyville, Illinois. He was a Boy Scout leader and mentor to young men. He was an aviator at a young age and had his pilot’s license before he entered military service.
In his retired years, Anne and Vernon traveled the world with family and friends and strangers-who-became-friends. He was proud of having visited all 50 states and most of the world continents. He lost his wife of 67 years in 2011.
He kept in touch with a vast array of friends by e-mail. He was an excellent bridge player and a good listener. In his last few years he traveled with the help of his traveling companion, Lori Greene, and visited many of the places where he had old friends and many memories.
In Inverness he was a member of the Inverness Golf and Country Club and a member of the Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists. He was an exemplary role model for a man and a pleasure and honor to have him in our lives for his 98 years.
A family gathering and memorial service for Vernon Beggs has been planned in Georgia in the months to come. Private cremation arrangements under the direction of Chas. E. Davis Funeral Home and crematory.
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