Beekman Webb of Beaufort, S.C., a beloved husband, father, and grandfather passed away peacefully at home of Wednesday, February 5, 2025.
Beekman Lee Webb, Jr. “Beek” was born in Beaufort, SC on May 18, 1947. His parents were Beekman Lee Webb, a Beaufort native, and Margaret Ashley Stansell Webb, of Barnwell Co., SC. Beek attended public schools in Beaufort and, although demonstrating very little interest in scholastics after learning to read in first grade, he graduated from Beaufort High School in 1965. He continued his formal schooling at the University of South Carolina until pressure from Uncle Sam during the Vietnam War forced him to drop out and join the US Coast Guard Reserve. Encouraged by his maternal grandfather, Leon Stansell, Beek developed an early and lasting interest in mechanical contrivances of all kinds, and in natural history . . . especially birds. By the time he became a teenager, he was deemed a “bird expert” in his small town and had the good fortune to be hired for two summers by a group of scientists from Yale University to catch and identify birds in the Beaufort area for their study of equine encephalitis.
The most formative period of his life began at age fourteen when he and a small group of boys his age decided to build a camp on Bay Point Island. With scrounged materials and no adult assistance they constructed a dock and a two-room cabin on a small hummock behind the main island. Hauling all the materials in their small boats, and eschewing schoolwork, sports, girls and almost everything else, Beek and his friends completed their camp within a year and enjoyed it most weekends during their high school years and for weeks at a time during summers and holidays. They had, almost entirely to themselves, what was at that time an idyllic wilderness in which to hunt, fish and explore. He always felt that his childhood years ‘down the river’ gave him the knowledge, independence and self-confidence to make his way and support his family for the rest of his life. He credited his parents for trusting his judgement and allowing him the freedom to go when many of his peers’ parents would not. For a few years in his twenties Beek lived in the North Carolina Outer Banks where he worked in boatyards and at commercial fishing. During this time he had the good fortune to meet his future wife and life partner, Cathy Wolfe. They moved to Beaufort and built their house on Coosaw Island where they lived happily for 45 years, surrounded by their children and grandchildren. Just as Beek’s grandfather introduced him to the wonders of the natural world, so did Beek with his own beloved grandchildren, Baylen, Hunter, Corinne and Ryder, in a setting nearly as idyllic as that of the cabin days back at Bay Point Island.
In 1983 Beek and Cathy formed Beekman Webb Construction Company which they operated for 35 years specializing in historic stabilization, restoration and preservation. He and his team, consisting of some of the area’s most accomplished craftsmen, were privileged to perform extensive work on many of Beaufort’s most historic structures. In 2015 he received Historic Beaufort Foundation’s Danner Award for lifetime achievement in historic preservation.
Beek served on the Beaufort County Board of Adjustments and Appeals, the board of the Historic Beaufort Foundation, as chairman of the Beaufort County Historic Review Board, as chairman of the Port Royal Historic Review Board, on the Beaufort County Rural and Critical Lands Board, and many years on the board of Beaufort County Open Land Trust, including a term as its president.
Along with those many distinguished and important duties & titles, Beek described himself thus: “He was a lifetime birder, performed regularly throughout his life on banjo, guitar, fiddle and mandolin, and was a student of many subjects.” – a perfect example of his self-effacing lack of pretension, and wry humor.
Going back to that boyhood idyll and the group of friends he gathered for its creation – several of whom came from afar to visit Beek during his final illness – and forward through the decades, Beek was a friend and mentor to multitudes. Always cheerful, steady, smart, practical and reliable, he was the person those who knew him went to for sure advice and kind comfort. His Jam Sessions at various settings on the Coosaw homestead were a musician’s delight, his oyster roasts outstanding, his many interests- inlay, antique fire irons, Beaufort history, archaeology, fiddle making on Cape Breton Island, Bluegrass, ancient technology . . . whatever! – always fascinating. Cooking for small and large dinner parties, as well as for fishing and other boat trips, Beek also entertained before or after the meal with live music, which often led to dancing. Cathy, his adored and adoring wife, shared in all of his projects and passions. Together they created delicious, magical, amusing, and loving occasions with the many friends, children, grandchildren, dogs (and snakes, frogs, birds etc.) who graced their home and life. Beek was always ready to lend a helping hand and shared his knowledge freely. His life graced ours, and he will be sorely, sorely missed.
Beek is survived by his wife Cathy, their daughter Maggie Webb Hartl (Brad), grandsons (Baylen, Ryder and Hunter), son Arnot Wolf Hulth, granddaughter, (Corinne) and sister Martha Evelyn “Hi” Webb Williams (Jim). He was predeceased by his parents and his sister Frances Gray Webb Hurt.
Friends wishing to memorialize him in some way may consider joining and contributing to Open Land Trust.
Burial will be private. A memorial gathering is planned for later. God is love, and science is real.
