Richard Henry Beard Sr., of Colts Neck died on Wednesday, December 7 at the Veterans Administration New Jersey Health Care System, Bernards Twp. He was born in Newark and was a 1960 graduate of Bloomfield High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1961 and was honorably discharged in 1963. Following his service in the Army, Richard began attending Upsala College, East Orange at night, while working days. During this time he married his loving wife of 39 years, Lynn in 1967 where they began raising their children in Bloomfield thereafter moving to Colts Neck. Upon his graduation in 1972 he began a career in Banking and quickly rose up the corporate ladder, eventually retiring as the President of Sayreville Savings & Loan. After achieving his corporate goals, Richard took an early retirement at age 39 to spend time with the family and help raise his four children. He loved being very active in the children’s lives, coaching their sports teams, making them breakfast before school and picking them up at the end of the day. This continued through adulthood, from being the biggest fan at all their college events, to bringing the family together for trips to Palm Beach or fun weekends fishing on the boat. He will be remembered as the father that was always there to give support, love, and friendship. Not only was he a great father to his children, and a loved grandfather to 5 grandchildren, he was a great father to all their friends, a great father-in-law and a great husband. He was an avid reader of investment publications which fueled his love for “the market” as well as advising on his family’s stock investments. He had a passion for cooking, loved his pets, and was a New York Giants’ fan. Richard was a parishioner of St. Mary's RC Church, Colts Neck. He was a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for 23 years, achieving retirement status in May of this year. One of the services he provided while with the Coast Guard was volunteer inspections of watercraft on the waterways throughout Monmouth and Ocean Counties. He was pre-deceased by his wife Lynn Mitschke Beard in 2006. Surviving are his children, Richard H. Beard Jr, of Toms River, D. Barrett Beard and his wife Deanna, of Toms River, Elissa Wojtowicz and her husband Joe, of Piscataway and Lia Thornton and her husband Tony, of Freehold; grandchildren, Kaitlyn Rose, Austin James, Joseph Richard, Hailey Joy and Logan Anthony. Visitation Monday Dec. 12th, 4-8 pm at the Holmdel Funeral Home, 26 South Holmdel Road, Holmdel NJ. Funeral mass, Tuesday, Dec. 13th, 10:30 am, St. Mary's RC Church, 1 Phalanx Rd, Colts Neck, NJ. Donations may be made in Richard's memory to the Veterans Administration at Lyons (Hospice Unit) http://www.volunteer.va.gov/apps/VolunteerNow/default.asp. Please designate NJ- VA Lyons as the “location” and Hospice as the “unit.” To share a favorite memory or for messages of condolence please visit Richard's Book of Memories www.holmdelfuneralhome.com.