R. Hart Beaver

Robert "Hart" Beaver died peacefully on October 10, 2024. He was a resident of the Health Center at Cornwall Manor for 3 ½ years. He is predeceased by his wife of 53 years, Joan Schick Beaver, his parents, Alice and Ralph Beaver, and his sister and brother-in-law, Jeanne and Harlan Daubert. He is survived by his daughter, Britt Beaver Saitta and her husband, John Saitta, and his grandsons and their wives, Bradley and Heather Saitta, and Tyler and Avery Saitta, and 5 great grandchildren. This is his story as told by his daughter. Hart's life was extraordinary and multifaceted. He was the quintessential renaissance man - one of "The Greatest Generation". His beginning was humble; Born in 1934 in Harrisburg to a loving Lutheran family, during the Depression and just prior to WWII, all of which greatly influenced his life. Hart was small for his age and it wasn't until High School that Hart started to grow and come into his own as an athlete. He went to Lower Paxton HS, where he lettered in football, basketball & baseball. He excelled in all 3, but he LOVED football and that was his ticket to go to college. He was recruited & received offers of full scholarships to several schools and chose Gettysburg. While at Gettysburg he had a very successful football career. He played both ways as an offensive and defensive tackle with the #71. In the 1990's, his junior year of 1953 was noted as the most successful football season since 1890 with a record of 8-1 with the loss being to Delaware - it was at this game he separated his shoulder and he played through it. But he wasn't just an athlete. Hart majored in European History and was president of the SAE Fraternity, and of his class of 1955. It was during his junior year that he met his wife, Joan, who was a new freshman at the time. It did not take them long to realize they were meant for one another. When Hart graduated, he had offers to try out with 3 professional football teams (Philadelphia Eagles, NY Giants & Green Bay Packers) but he decided to stick with his plan and went on to the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. Hart and Joan were married between his 1st and 2nd year there and in order to support them, Hart joined the Army Reserves and continued that service for 8 years, resigning as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was very proud of this service. Even though he was not called, he was ready. He also was a YMCA camp counselor, Freshman line coach and even a PIAA Football Official. It was in Seminary that Hart became what he called a "serious student" and this was confirmed by his professors who gave him the honor of the Outstanding Student in the Class. After graduating from Seminary, Hart went to serve as Pastor of the Advent Lutheran Church in Lancaster. Hart had walked into a difficult turnaround situation at Advent and after 2 years things were going well, however it was at that point he realized perhaps his "call" to serve was different. There was an attorney in the congregation who encouraged him to go to law school and in the Fall of 1960 Hart was enrolled at Temple Law. He attended school during the day and worked 5 jobs at night (among them a full time Nationwide Insurance adjuster, Red Cross, Army Reserve). Hart graduated from Temple Law in 1963 with honors. He received offers from law firms in Philadelphia, but the dream he and Joan had was to move to a rural area and buy an old farmhouse. That dream brought them to Lebanon County. Hart was hired by Al Lewis and became the First Assistant District Attorney in Lebanon. When it came to looking for a home, Hart and Joan found the perfect farmhouse "fixer upper" in Richland. Over the next 10 years Hart and Joan lovingly restored the house at 208 Walnut and Hart built his law practice. His first big case was a murder case in Richland which put his name in the papers and got him known in the town and the county. He worked tirelessly, seeing clients in our home at night, and becoming the solicitor for the Richand Borough, the Elco School District, & the Millcreek Sewer Authority. Eventually he left Lewis in order to start his own firm of Beaver & Wolf. From there he joined forces with Chuck Henry's firm to create what he liked to call the "Mega Firm" in Lebanon now known as Henry and Beaver. Hart has been a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association for over 50 years. When he first started the practice of law he took on all kinds of clients...estate, corporate, trial work, real estate...but as the firm became larger and each attorney started to specialize, he found a niche that he loved and in which he excelled. It was Medical Malpractice in the defense of Doctors and Hospitals. In his later years, he loved sharing the stories of his favorite trials which took place all over central Pennsylvania and it was thrilling to listen to. I loved listening to my dad. He was a VORACIOUS reader and he loved History. He had an unbelievable ability to recall History and weave together the events leading up to a conflict or other significant time in History. It was truly amazing. He was my Google before there was Google. In addition to his practice of law/or perhaps because of it, Hart had the opportunity to look at business investments AND he was willing to take risks. Beginning in the early 70's he invested in Land in Orlando where they were building hotels for Disney, Land here in Lebanon County to build a housing development, invested in a Chicken processing plant in Fredericksburg, Burger Kings in Maryland, and numerous other ventures...he was very proud of all the people he helped to employ. At the same time he gave countless volunteer hours serving numerous Boards and fundraising drives. Such as his service on the Board of Gettysburg Seminary for 30 years and President for 3 Terms; he was one of the founders of the new Richland library and served on the Richland Library Board for many years; and he was instrumental in moving Millcreek Lutheran Church to its current location and served on the Church Council for many years. So beyond building his practice, renovating an old farmhouse, investing in businesses, volunteering on boards, being a husband and father - the most extraordinary part of Hart's life was all the "other" things he did - The "extracurriculars"...and he didn't just dabble in this or that...he got really into each one. The first extracurricular was golf; for several years he was a member of LCC and played to single digits, but that did not include the family, so he thought sailing was a family activity. He and Joan had vacationed in Maine, learned to sail on little boats called Lightnings and had a dream of someday buying a big boat to sail on. That dream became a reality in 1971 - they bought a 43 ft. sailboat in Annapolis, MD. Learning how to sail the boat was going well, but Hart was a competitor and sailboat racing appealed to him. So Hart put together a crew and joined the Annapolis Yacht Club, where he is a "Life Member", a membership of which he was extremely proud. He, Joan and Britt raced the boat for the next ten years...not only on the Chesapeake Bay throughout the spring, summer and fall, but they also completed 8 ocean races - 4 Annapolis to Newport and 4 Newport to Bermuda. Hart was a great Captain, Skipper and Navigator. He never yelled, was always calm, firm, and a good decision maker. He recalled these years as the best of his life and they truly were. During the sailing years, the other family activity initiated by Hart was skiing. Hart, Joan and Britt started out skiing mostly in Vermont and then in 1986, Hart and Joan bought a place in Aspen, Colorado. The family enjoyed skiing in Aspen for over 20 years and Hart even taught his grandsons, Brad and Tyler, how to ski. It was also during the sailing years that Hart took up flying. During his flying career he attained his pilot's license, instrument license, commercial license, aerobatics certificate and instructors license... he owned a Cessna, a Mooney, a twin-engine Aztec, a vintage Piper Cub and a by-wing, open cockpit stunt plane call a Marquart Charger. He flew out of Farmers Pride in Fredericksburg, Keller Brothers in Schaefferstown and Lancaster. Two of the planes, the antique and the stunt plane were made of fabric and Hart and Joan recovered them in entirety in their garage. He was very proud of the fact that they won a second place at the National Fly-In in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with the stunt plane after they had recovered it. He was also very proud of the fact that they had flown out to Oshkosh and back with road maps. The interest that followed flying and sailing was horses. Hart and Joan took riding lessons together, which led to getting horses. At first they kept the horses at their trainer's barn where other riders in the barn were fox hunters. Since they enjoyed the jumping aspect of riding, they decided to Fox Hunt also. They were active members of the Cochranville Hunt in Chester County for over 10 years. Owning horses led to redoing the barn off Elm St. (his first project of many with his son-in-law, John) to house the horses when they were healthy and then became a retirement home for them when they weren't. Hart loved those horses - loved caring for them and walking them back and forth to the pasture at the house. At this point you say...WOW...Hart was a lucky man. He would say, and this was his favorite saying, "the harder I work, the luckier I get." There were many plans in Hart and Joan's future, but Joan took ill. For four years, Hart took care of Joan; every aspect of her care. Her illness was gradual, but a very bad fall and compound fracture of her ankle thrust Hart into house keeper and care giver. Within a ten day period he had to learn to do all the food shopping, cooking, laundry, etc. and take care of my mom. Hart's resume was a long one, but it did NOT include housework or home care at all! He once again went all in, but this time it was completely for Joan. They were married for 53 years when she passed away and he later said the last 4 were the best years of their marriage. After Joan died, Hart stayed close to home. He enjoyed an annual fly fishing trip with his son-in-law, John and with his daughter, Britt. He took part in all their family's events and those of the Daubert family, who were always so wonderful to include him and whom he loved very much. He continued to play golf with his buddies at LCC, stop in the Library for a good book or board meeting, and attend church at Millcreek. But mostly he loved taking care of his homestead. He was able to do this with the help of friends in the community. He could most often be seen with his white T-shirt and old dirty khaki workpants mowing the grass, or gathering leaves or picking up sticks. He did take on one more major project...in 2014 he built a barn on an old site where one had burned down on his property. After clearing the area like an antiquities expert, he and a local builder rebuilt the barn. He loved the homestead that he and Joan created and it was now complete and he was very proud of it. He was happy to share it with whoever had the time and the interest. He loved the town of Richland and after 60 years felt like he and mom had made the transition from outsiders to insiders and that was extremely important to him. They will now be together in our God's Kingdom and part of the fabric of Richland forever. Thank you for allowing me to share my father's story. He will be remembered by many people in many different ways - but for me he will be remembered as a wonderful father and friend and I will miss him beyond measure. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Hart's memory to Millcreek Lutheran Church, 221 N. Sheridan Rd., Newmanstown, PA 17073 or to Richland Community Library, 111 E. Main St. Richland, PA 17087. Viewing will be on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 from 4:00-6:00pm at Christman's Funeral Home, Inc., 226 Cumberland Street, Lebanon. Funeral services will be on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at 10:30am with viewing starting at 9:00 at Millcreek Lutheran Church, 221 N. Sheridan Road, Newmanstown. Burial will be at Richland Cemetery following the funeral service. For more information, to offer online condolences or to order flowers, please go to www.christmansfuneralhome.com