The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-10-10
Hears Of Death Of
 Dr. Beard
Succumbs To Heart Trouble - At His Summer Home In
 New Hampshire.

Rev. pr. Gerald H. Beard. for years pastor of the Park Street Con- grega.tional church, died yesterday afternoon in the Littleton hospital, Littfeton, N. H. Dr. Beard had been i'll since last June, and two weeks ago was removed from hus summer cot tage on Sugar Hill. N. H., to the hos pital- Death is attributed to a heart ailment with which he had been af- f1icted for years. He had been pastor of the local church for the past 16 years, coming here from New Haven:
 The death of the venerable clergy man leaves a vacancy in the religious, civic and social circles of Bridgeport that can never be refilled. His fail- ing heahh had been a source of great sorrow to his host of friends, and his death is an unconsolaIble loss During the years he has laIbored for his church in Bridgeport his dignified yet kindly demeanor, his evenly disposed and winning disposition. his unlimited CTS, his lively interest in all that tended for the betterment and pro- gress of his fellowmen won for him an enviable position of singular trust, devotion and respect.
 Dr. Beard is survived by two broth CTS, pr. Richard Beard and Harring ton Beard, both of Minneapolis, Minn. and four daughters, Mrs. Clarence torney; Miss Catherine Beard, a grad uate of Smith college and at present Latin instructress in a Chicago fin- ishing school; Miss Eleanor Beard, sophomore at Vassar college, and Miss Esther Beard, a sophomore at the Bridgeport High school.
 Since early in the spring, Dr. Beard had been in failing health, but it was believed that the change to his sum mer cottage on Sugar Hill, N. H., would prove a beneficial restorative. Together with his family he left for the quiet SecludednesS of the New
 
 a time seemed to be well advanced on the road to recovery.
 With the passing of the warm days of summer, his condition steadily grew worse, and two weeks ago it was found necessary to remove him to the Litt1eton hospital in a nearby town, where his death occurred yesterday afternoon.
 Funeral services have been tenta- lively arranged, and will be held Thursday afternoon at o'clock from the Park street church, which he has served so well and faithfully.
 He never neglected any duty. In the sick room he was a welcome guest. There was an optimism in his char acter a cheerfulness in his address, and element of hope in his tempera- ment that especially adapted him to aid those in pain or other mis- fortune.
 Mir. Beard was man of slight phy sique, but of strong and ardent men ta1ity. He was intensely industrious and spared no ecort or research in the preparation of his sermons and other addresses. He was strongly of the opinion tfrat religion ought to concern itself with the everyday affairs of the people. Hence his pulpit sometimes resounded with denuneiation of politi- cal and other civic evils. And these opinions frequently brought down upon him the vaxation of those who deemed themselves injured by the frankness of his speech.
 Such experiences Rev Dr. Beard bore with dignity He was a man entirely beyond petty malice, and he never harbored the least hatred even vigorously. He was distinctly of the school of ministers who believe in taking and giving good blows. His enemy was always the evil thing. The man he always loved.
 He was a leading spirit in the Bridgeport Pastors Association, an organization which did much practi- ing over the common interests of re- ligion-
 MT. Beard ever had the staunch support of his congregation, and in no case was the affection which his flock had for him weakened by the outside antagonisms which his mili- tant faith evoked.
 As a pulpit speaker MT. Beard was clear, logical and emphatic, indulging much in the rugged principles of logic. He drove home his points with fearless force. There was neverthe- less a poetic side to him, which some times peeped through his coldest ar guments.