George Beall remembered for integrity, humility and magnetic personality

Famed Maryland prosecutor George Beall — a man with an electric smile and a magnetic personality — died this month in Naples.

He leaves a huge hole in the lives of his family, friends and others he touched with the twinkle in his eye. He was a family man, a savvy lawyer, an avid golfer and a true friend.

Beall, a resident of Port Royal, died Jan. 15, from a rare form of brain cancer. He was 79.

Although a star in the legal world, he wasn't one to brag about it.

Decades ago, Beall made national and international headlines for his prosecution of Vice President Spiro Agnew. Ultimately, Beall's investigation as a U.S. attorney for Maryland ended with Agnew's conviction and resignation in 1973, but Beall rarely talked about it, only delivering a few public speeches about it in his lifetime.

Two years into his job as a U.S. attorney for Maryland, Beall (pronounced behl) opened an investigation into possible corruption in Baltimore County, looking into whether public officials were getting kickbacks from architectural, engineering and paving firms in exchange for giving them no-bid contracts.

The investigation led Beall to Agnew, who was accused of taking bribes for contracts first as a Baltimore County executive, then as a governor of Maryland and finally as vice president in the Nixon administration.

"George had the courage as a Republican to take on a sitting Republican vice president who was a crook. George was going to do the right thing in any case," former Maryland Congressman Mike Barnes said.

In other words, party lines made no difference to Beall.

While federal prosecutors dropped most of the allegations against Agnew, he pleaded no contest to one count of income tax evasion and agreed to resign as vice president. He was fined $10,000 and received three years' probation.

In 2003, on the 30th anniversary of Agnew's resignation, Beall gave a speech in the city where he was born, sharing the story of his legal feat with a crowd of students and others gathered at Frostburg University in Maryland.

He said he had feared the U.S. Justice Department would take over the investigation or it would be given to a special prosecutor and that he worked to ensure that didn't happen by showing the U.S. attorney general that his team "knew what we were doing."

At first Agnew fought the charges, saying they were "damned lies," and he refused to step down.

In his speech, Beall said his legal team worked with Agnew's lawyers for weeks to hammer out an agreement that would be "perceived by the public as just and fair, and yet would be one that would for all time show on the public record that the vice president was not resigning out of altruism but indeed was confronted with the certainty of criminal conviction."

Agnew paid his fine the day after it was ordered, using money from his "good friend, Frank Sinatra," Beall recounted.

While serving as the U.S. attorney for Maryland from 1970-75, Beall also gained notoriety for his prosecution of Arthur Bremer, the gunman who tried to kill Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace — a Democratic presidential hopeful — in 1972.

On top of that, Beall investigated alleged price fixing among bakeries, hidden ownership of tawdry bars and burlesque houses, police corruption and drug trafficking by a member of the Maryland Legislature.

After Beall went into private practice as a litigator, Mike Barnes worked on a few cases with him at Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells). Beall served as a managing partner of the Baltimore office for about a decade.

"He was an exceptional lawyer and an extremely fine person — a really outstanding individual," Barnes said.

Beall, he said, had integrity and good judgment.

After years of not seeing Beall, Barnes said they reconnected through their involvement with the Forum Club of Southwest Florida, a nonprofit that brings big-name speakers to Naples. The two were also neighbors in the posh neighborhood of Port Royal — purely by accident.

"If you'd meet him, he was always upbeat. You would not know he was a big deal," Barnes said.

For many years Beall was the general counsel for the Baltimore Ravens, when they were still owned by Art Modell.

"George loved Art Modell, and he just treasured his time being with all the Ravens, in every area of the Ravens, from the players to the people that trained them, to the people that handled them, to the NFL, to the coaches," said Carolyn Campbell Beall, George's wife.

She recalled the many years she and George spent cheering the football team on during home games in box seats, surrounded by celebrities and other VIPs.

Born George Beall VIII, he rarely, if ever, used the roman numerals in his name.

"It was a bit too much," his wife said.

George Beall came from a prominent family in Maryland. His father, J. Glenn Beall, and his brother J. Glenn Beall Jr. were U.S. senators from Maryland. His family's roots in America date to the 1600s.

"We just always knew each other's family," Campbell Beall said. "Our grandparents knew each other."

Beall graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1955 and Princeton University in 1959. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1963.

An avid golfer, George played the game regularly in Baltimore, Naples and Jackson, Wyoming. He learned to play golf when he was a kid.

Later in life George loved to be outside with his wife and friends. Campbell Beall said they became pantheists, with the view that God was everything and everyone around them, so they wanted to take it all in and enjoy it while they were on this Earth.

In Naples, the couple — married for 37 years — loved to ride bikes, walk on the beach, watch sunsets and hang out with the many great friends they had here. They wed later in life after other marriages ended. Between them they had four kids, none of them together.

"He was a kind and loving and wonderful man who tried to lead and guide our children, without seeming to do so. They revered him. They treasured his time that he spent with them. A lot of who he was came to pass in all the children. His strong influence was just apparent in their personality as they grew older," Campbell Beall said

Beall served on several boards, including the Beall Institute at Frostburg State University and the Hole in the Wall Golf Club in Naples.

Chip Garnett, a North Naples resident, met Beall about 12 years ago when he joined the Hole in the Wall Golf Club in Naples. Through Beall, Garnett said he gained a greater appreciation of golf.

"He was very concerned about all the members of the club and took me under his wing when I first joined the club. I grew to realize that golf was more than just a game. It was more about the people," Garnett said.

The two ran a weekly men's golf event at the private club, which started with four players and grew to as many as 62.

Beall stayed up on current issues and always had something interesting to talk about, Garnett said.

"He always was happy-go-lucky, always had a great story," he said.

Campbell Beall said she never met anyone who didn't like her husband. Everyone who has ever known him has been touched by his sharp humor and wit, she said.

"He was just one of those unique people that reach something special in everyone. He had this electric smile that just drew people in. You could almost say he had fans. Everyone just loved him," Campbell Beall said.

Besides his wife, Beall is survived by daughter Rebecca Beall DiSabato; his stepchildren James C. Alban IV, Taber Alban Frederick and Nicholas G. Alban; 16 grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

A reception is planned at the Maryland Club in May. A remembrance event will also be held in Naples.