Oscar "Bear" Lee Beasley, a native of Chesapeake, Virginia, was born
September 3, 1942. He attended Great Bridge High School, where he played jayvee and varsity on the defensive line for the Wildcats, ending with an 8-1-1 record in 1960-61, the best season the school had up until that time. Beasley entered what was then Chowan Junior College in the fall of 1963 becoming part of the Braves team.
In his sophomore year, Beasley, by then known as “Bear,” continued as a defensive linebacker for Chowan. During fall practice, Beasley began to lose a great deal of weight and was subsequently diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, which entailed a strenuous diet and daily insulin injections. However, he never missed a practice nor a game of the ensuing season. He was honored that year in the Chowanoka, the school annual, with a full-page picture captioned, “The Will to Win.”
Two years later, following his marriage to Nancy Carolyn Wright, whom he met when she was a freshman at Chowan, and the birth of their son, Oscar, Jr, Beasley moved to Blacksburg where he began practice with the Hokies of Virginia Tech. After suffering a serious face wound, which refused to heal because of diabetes and the continuous friction of a chin strip, Beasley was forced to give up his football and college career.
Beasley returned to Great Bridge and his love of football by serving as a volunteer Little League coach for several years. He also became a professional firefighter for the Chesapeake Fire Department. Prior to being hired, he had fought fires and assisted in a medic unit as a volunteer, beginning at the age of 16.
In 1969, a second son, Jason, was born. Three years later, the family moved to South Hill and Beasley began a long career in interstate and commercial building. Before having to retire due to medical disability, Beasley was the manager of Telamon Corporation and its subsidiary, Old Dominion Construction Company.
Although working full time, Beasley completed his Associate's degree at Southside Virginia Community College in Alberta, Virginia, and subsequently earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia, graduating in 1985 at the age of 42.
While in South Hill, Beasley joined the Southside Volunteer Rescue Squad, serving over six years in continuous service as an Emergency Medical Technician, an IV Technician and a Cardiac Technician. In October 1991, the squad honored him posthumously with a lifetime membership.
Beasley was a member of the First Baptist Church of South Hill, where he served for several years on the building and grounds committee. Beasley also established the Mecklenburg Unit of the American Heart Association and served as the founding president in that location.
In January 1991, Beasley underwent a successful kidney transplant at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, which restored his kidney function. He underwent a pancreas transplant on September 19, 1991 at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, which eliminated diabetes from his life. He died at UVA four days later following a surgery for subsequent complications. Beasley had celebrated his 49th birthday 20 days earlier.
