A Letter About My Papa, Robert S. Beall, III

My name is Robert Sterling Beall III (“Sterling”),  and I am the 15-year-old grandson of Robert S. Beall, Sr (our “Papa”)  who served as the founder and principal of .  I’m just writing to let the community know that Mark Pulido and the Whitney Family have been extremely supportive during my grandfather’s illness and passing.

While he was in the hospital, many of the “Whitney kids” came to visit my grandfather. In fact, a number of doctors and nurses at the hospital had been students at Whitney and told me great stories about my grandfather and the impact on their lives.  his is when I first realized that my grandfather had the same impact on others that he had on me and my dad, sisters and cousins……academic excellence, effort and family were our highest priorities. 

My grandfather always told us that we needed to never lose sight of these values. Based on the outpouring of support from the “Whitney kids”  We asked Mark to speak at his memorial mass on behalf of the Whitney Family. When Mark told us during one of the vigils for my grandfather held at Whitney that they were considering going to the board with a request that my grandfather’s name be on the building at Whitney, we embraced the concept without hesitation and thought it would be a great tribute to honor the hard work and devotion my grandfather had for the school and his students. Working with others to make Whitney and a generation of kids was was a big part of my grandfather’s life and this would be great recognition for these efforts. In this regard,  Mark Pulido has been such a huge part of our family during this time and a great spokesperson for the “Whitney kids.” 

My family and I have wanted to honor and respect the legacy of my grandfather.  It has been an extremely hard time for all of us. He was a huge part of our lives, challenging us to do well in school, just as he did with his Whitney kids. When Mark came to us we knew that it would be an excellent way to honor him. My grandfather was a man of technology and would have loved to been able to seen the media center. He devoted everything he had to the Whitney community and took great pride not only in the institution, but more importantly to the success of the Whitney kids. He remained in touch with those kids and active in the school until the very end of his life.

We really did not know how much he had accomplished until we saw how much people loved him and reached out to our family while he was ill. We had students come visit the hospital, sending cards, and posting on his Facebook. Doctors who worked at Long Beach Memorial had found out he was there and visited him. He had cards surrounding his entire room from people that had there lives changed by his works and dreams. 

He never did any of the things for a building, but instead to change the lives of people and create a school that would become the best high school in California.  He will still live on in all of us and will not be forgotten. 

- Sterling Beall
Grandson of Robert S. Beall Sr. (our Papa)