Eight Bells: Charles Beek

Chuck Beek

Charles Frederick Beek, 73, passed away peacefully on November 5, 2025, in the ocean front house where he was raised in Balboa, CA – the same house which he lovingly restored over the years. A nine-knot westerly was blowing that day, the kind of perfect afternoon for a sailor to push off the dock.

The oldest of five children, Chuck was born in Orange County, California, to Barton Brewster Beek and Dorothy May Beek. He spent his entire life surrounded by family in Newport Beach.

His early years were spent playing on Balboa Island, participating in BIYC, sailing Sabots and Snowbirds, fostering a fascination with bicycles, and developing a lifelong love of his family’s mountain place with his grandparents Joe and Carroll Beek.

A graduate of Newport Harbor High School, in his teens Chuck worked on the family’s Balboa Island Ferry. He attended the University of California, Irvine, where he earned his degree in Biology before beginning his career in construction management, building hotels and homes across southern California, working for Ayres, Premier, Brookfield, and Catellus. He applied his craftsmanship to custom homes as well, including building Tierney House at UCI.

Throughout his life, Chuck sailed Star boats. Besides crewing for his father, Chuck raced six Star boats of his own and introduced many crews to the class. He sailed in Star regattas across North America, South America, and Europe. He will be remembered for his unremitting participation and pleasure in the traditions and hospitality of the Class.

As a member of Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Chuck was also well known for racing Lehman 12 #202 in Thursday twilight and weekend regattas, wrangling girlfriends, his mother, sisters, and most faithfully, his daughter Hannah as crew.

Chuck was a reliable pilot of the Beek family motor yacht Vamos. He took her to and from San Francisco several times and on many trips to Catalina and to the Channel Islands. Before Christmas he could be counted on to skipper the Vamos for viewing the Parade of Lights and a turn around the bell buoy at the jetty end.

Chuck was intentional and endlessly curious; a deep thinker who approached life with intellect and emotion. He was a voracious reader and critic of literature, history, poetry, and music. He was never afraid to shed a tear, but those who knew him understood that his sentimentality was part of his strength, a reflection of the depth of his heart.

Chuck is survived by his children Hannah Bay Beek and Charles “Chas” Barton Beek and their mother Kim Beek, by his stepmother Linda Beek, by his siblings Carroll, Rocky, Barbara and Joe, and by his partner Julie Mattson, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

He will be remembered for his wit, wisdom, craftmanship, kindness, cussedness, his love of the sea and of his mountain places, and his ability to find meaning in every detail of life.

A Memorial will be held in January 2026.

Source: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailypilot/name/charles-beek-obituary?id=60111534