Marion Meredith Beal, Father of Pasadena City Attorney Michele Bagneris, Passes Away at 93

Marion Meredith Beal, the father of Pasadena City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris, died Saturday from complications related to multiple strokes. He was 93.

Beal, a Congressional Gold Medal recipient, was a member of one of the first African-American platoons to integrate the Marine Corps during World War II.

“Because of his example, I have learned how to give without complaint, to do the best that I can in whatever I put my mind to and to have the confidence through hard work, being positive and getting along with others we can go far in life,” Bagneris told the Pasadena Weekly.

Granddaughter Monet Bagneris told Pasadena Now that her granfather “was a great man. A man of true integrity who taught the value of living a life of service to others, following Christ, respecting others, and taking life’s moments one step at a time. I will forever remember him saying these to me, ‘Expect the best, prepare for the worst, and take what happens,’ and ‘It takes more muscles to frown than smile, so be happy!'”

Beal, known to family and friends as Meredith, was born on Oct. 4, 1922 in Marion County, Texas to educators Henry Beal and Mattie Benton Beal.

In high school, he traveled to Washington, D.C. with the Boy Scouts, visiting the Capitol Building and the White House. Also, during the trip, he walked all 897 steps to the top of the Washington Monument.

Beal finished high school at 15 and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration at 19 in 1942 — the same year President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a presidential directive allowing African Americans to be enlisted in the Marine Corps, the last branch of the military to become integrated.

The Marine recruits were segregated and trained at Montford Point, in Point Lejeune, N.C. He served during World War II as an original Montford Point Marine.

Beal later became as chief clerk at the Montford Point Marine Corps headquarters, the only African American on staff. He was also the first enlisted African American to serve in the US Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C.

After the war, he moved to Los Angeles and began working at the Veterans Administration Hospital in West Los Angeles where he met his wife, Rohelia.

In June, 2012, he returned to Washington, D.C. to receive the Congressional Gold Medal in appreciation for his service as one of the first African Americans to serve in the Marine Corps.

He is survived by his wife Rohelia, children Meredith and Michele, grandchildren Monet, Jules IV and Mariana, and son-in-law Rev. Dr. Jules S. Bagneris, III. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at First New Christian Baptist Church, 1555 W. 108th St. in Los Angeles.

[An earlier version of this story appeared in the Pasadena Weekly]