Runners and triathletes knew him from the many race committees on which he participated. Members of Bellevue Heights United Methodist Church for 25 years ate the Men's Roast Beef Dinner that he oversaw each year. Upstate students learned microbiology, immunology and parasitology from him, and many faculty and staff from Upstate called him friend.

Associate professor David Beach, PhD, who worked at Upstate for almost 50 years, died Wednesday, Sept. 11. He was 74 and had been married to his wife, the former Judith Sherman, for 51 years.

Dan Hurley, director of public and governmental affairs, called Beach "one of the nicest people you would want to meet" in the Upstate Friends & Advocates newsletter. Ed Griffin, in his Fleet Feet Sports newsletter, remembered Beach as
"always smiling, encouraging runners and telling them 'you are looking great.' "

Beach lived in Syracuse his whole life. He was a veteran of the Army and a graduate of Syracuse University and Upstate. He received a SUNY President's Award for Professional Service in 1994 and a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service in 1995. Services were Sept. 15 at Buranich Funeral Home in Camillus.

Read the Fleet Feet newsletter, called Ed's Blog

Read the Buranich Funeral Home obituary

Read the Syracuse.com obituary