{"id":2467,"date":"2016-09-27T14:11:18","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T14:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johnbealroofing.com\/?page_id=2467"},"modified":"2023-01-03T23:25:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T05:25:10","slug":"three-generations-up-on-a-roof","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/johnbealroofing.com\/three-generations-up-on-a-roof\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Generations Up On A Roof"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Three Generations Up on a Roof<\/h3>\n
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Many small town youngsters who had never been away from the family farm found themselves flung straight into the middle of World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Those who were fortunate enough to return home intact had learned skills that they could not have imagined when they first reported to their draft boards. By 1946 these young veterans were ready to reap the benefits of their experiences in a peacetime economy. One of them was a young man named Hank Beal. Rather than toil for someone else, he founded his own roofing and construction company. His grandson, John Beal, carries on his legacy in 2011. \u201cI have been around the business my whole life,\u201d says the third-generation roofer. \u201cMy grandfather started it in 1947.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry J. Beal was a farm boy and bluegrass musician out of Hannibal, Missouri. \u201cHis favorite instrument was the mandolin, but he could play the strings off a guitar or a banjo,\u201d says John Beal. \u201cMusic has always been part of our family. My dad plays the guitar, and so do I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hank Beal wasn\u2019t just a parlor plucker. He really knew how to play. As a member of the Salt River Hoosiers, he appeared regularly on radio station WTAO in Hannibal MO. \u201cThe Salt River winds around the vicinity of Hannibal,\u201d says John. \u201cMy grand- ma\u2019s family, the Daniels, had a farm in nearby New London. If you want to talk about country music, her dad\u2019s name was Charlie Daniels, although naturally he wasn\u2019t the Charlie Daniels. The Daniels family owns the farm to this day. There\u2019s even a Daniels Lake. It\u2019s a man-made body of water that was created by my uncle, Hurley Daniels.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day my dad\u2019s brother Frank and a friend went out to the farm to visit Uncle Hurley. As they passed Daniels Lake, they noticed that there were frogs everywhere. They decided to take advantage of this discovery and gigged about 50 frogs, which was just about the lake\u2019s entire population.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they got to the farmhouse, Uncle Hurley welcomed them with open arms. \u2018You boys wanna go fishin?\u2019 he asked them. \u2018Go ahead and catch all the fish you want; bluegills, bass, catfish, whatever. You can throw \u2018em out for all I care. Just don\u2019t touch my frogs, \u2018cause that\u2019s what I\u2019m tryin\u2019 to raise out there.\u2019\u201d Frank Beal and his buddy just blinked at each other. Finally Frank summoned the courage to admit that they had virtually wiped out his frog farm the night before. \u201cNeedless to say, this information made Uncle Hurley pretty upset,\u201d chuckles John Beal.<\/p>\n

\"\"Henry Beal learned all about construction when he joined the army during World War II. As a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, Beal helped direct the building of portable pontoon bridges as the U. S. Army moved through Europe. The bridges float- ed on water, supported by barge or boat-like pontoons to hold up the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. Pontoon bridges were vital to the U. S. Armed Forces as they marched toward Berlin. Sometimes Beal and his crew had to destroy a bridge after the Allies crossed over to keep the enemy from using it. It the army was on a long march, the bridges were sometimes collapsed and carried along.<\/p>\n

Beal\u2019s American Army combat engineers succeeded in circumventing enemy forces who thought that could halt the advance of General George S. Patton\u2019s tanks by blowing up big bridges. Beal and the boys were able to duplicate the carrying capacity of the huskiest span in approximately four hours. This was in spite of the fact that enemy snipers frequently fired shots at the bridge builders. Once Beal\u2019s crew was finished, tanks and other armored vehicles were able to roar over the water. More than once Beal and his men saluted General Patton as his Sherman tank clattered across one of their bridges. They needed to be close at hand since, as the enemy retreated across rivers, they routinely destroyed the only bridge that could carry heavy traffic. When this happened, the wreck span would hardly hit the water before the army engineers rolled out of their camouflaged dispersal positions and started work on the near shore. Beal\u2019s armored engineer battalion once built a 330-foot bridge in 3 hours and 2 minutes. These amazing achievements allowed for speedy crossings for heavy armor and much greater safety. By 1945, longer, sturdier pontoons, improved steel saddles and wider treadways made the bridges even sturdier. The construction crew not only had to be good, they had to be fast. The engineers and their teams were under constant pressure to quickly make bridges and clear the way for the Allied advance against Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n

After the war, Hank Beal decided to put his army experience to work. In 1947 he relocated to St. Louis and set up his own construction and roofing business. \u201cHe started out with a two-man crew,\u201d says John Beal. \u201cBut he felt he had the knowledge and the experience to tackle any job. He could put on a new roof, tuckpoint a wall, or build a house from the ground up\u201d. Compared to building a floating bridge in a matter of hours that could support a 33-ton Sherman tank while bullets were whizzing by his head, such projects were a walk in the park.<\/p>\n

During the Cold War, he built quite a few fallout shelters. As people moved to the suburbs he began building swimming pools.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGrandpa was a perfectionist,\u201d says John. \u201cDuring the war, people\u2019s lives depended on him getting the job done right. When he went into business for himself everything had to be dead-on accurate. It didn\u2019t matter if the customer was satisfied. The job wasn\u2019t done until he was satisfied.\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMy dad told me that once Grandpa was pouring a swimming pool for a guy, and it was going to be a really large one. It had rained for several days and wouldn\u2019t quit raining. The pool had shifted and wasn\u2019t level. It was off by just a little bit. So he started jacking up the pool to make it right. When it was just a half inch from being level, the customer said, \u2018That\u2019s good enough. Don\u2019t risk cracking the pool. I\u2019m perfectly fine with it.\u2019 Grandpa replied that he wanted it absolutely perfect. \u2018No, no. I\u2019m happy with it. You can stop right now.\u2019 said the man. But Grandpa wouldn\u2019t hear of it. He jacked it up that last half inch and, sure enough, the whole pool cracked right in half. It cost him thousands of dollars to break out the pool and re-pour it. But that\u2019s just the way he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hank Beal also held the patent on \u201cPermaStone,\u201d a process that created a concrete veneer for buildings that that made them appear to be built of stone. \u201cI remember playing with the molds when I was a little kid,\u201d says John. \u201cA number of buildings, such as the Domino\u2019s Pizza at Gravois and Weber in Affton, still have his PermaStone exteriors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hank Beal\u2019s business and residence were at 5024 Kerth Road in South St. Louis County. It included his office, warehouse, the PermaStone factory and a concrete dump. His land extended from Kerth Road almost to Highway 55. The Schnucks Supermarket at Butler Hill Road now sits on part of the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was around the business from the time I was old enough to walk,\u201d says John. \u201cI did small jobs with Grandpa and he took me everywhere with him, whether he was bidding a job or doing work. I was part of all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hank Beal retired in 1973 after suffering a stroke. \u201cNot only did he have to stop working, he could no longer play music and that bothered him a lot because he loved music,\u201d said John.<\/p>\n

Jerry and his brother Frank took over the business when Hank retired. \u201cAt this point, Dad and Uncle Frank began to concentrate on roofing, although they continued to do all kinds of construction work,\u201d says John. \u201cBy then our reputation for quality work was well known in the industry, and we did a lot of jobs for large chain stores like Sears, Hill-Behan, Central Hardware and Builder\u2019s Square.<\/p>\n

\u201cDad worked me harder than any other employee,\u201d says John. \u201cI guess he didn\u2019t want it to look like he was showing favoritism. But it was like a form of reverse discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 1974 Jerry Beal had a staff of 8 people, in addition to his wife. Frank Beal served in the military in Vietnam, and had to step back from the business after returning stateside because his health was damaged by the effects of the toxic jungle defoliant Agent Orange.<\/p>\n

Tired of the pressure of being the boss\u2019 son, John Beal decided to try a different direction and attended nursing school But it wasn\u2019t long before he was back with his dad. \u201cI thought, \u2018This is silly. Roofing and construction are what I know best. He\u2019s my dad. We can work this out.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cIn 1998 Dad retired and I took over the business. One of the first things I did was put the company name all over everything. It\u2019s not enough to just be the best. You have to keep reminding everybody that you\u2019re the best. That\u2019s why advertising and marketing are so important. I believe that if you\u2019re going to do something, you should go all the way. I put the company logo on all of our trucks. If John Beal roofing does a great job on your house, I want everybody to know it was John Beal who did it. And I want everybody to know they can get the same great job on brickwork, siding, windows and gutters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hank and Jerry Beal didn\u2019t just pass along the family business. John is a third-generation guitarist with his Jack Cash Band. \u201cWe can play pretty well, but of course, we\u2019re no Salt River Hoosiers,\u201d he snickers.<\/p>\n

The John Beal Company has been able to buck a national trend by growing while other roofers are seeing a decrease in business. Beal attributes this to savvy marketing and a commitment to meeting customer needs with quality products and service. \u201cA satisfied customer is always your best ambassador,\u201d says Beal. \u201cOn the other hand, one dissatisfied customer can undo thousands of dollars worth of advertising. It just doesn\u2019t pay to make somebody unhappy. And we\u2019ll tackle any job,\u201d says Beal. \u201cWe\u2019ll even put a roof on your cave! he adds with a chuckle. Actually, we\u2019ve never put a roof on a cave, but we did do the roofing for Meramec Caverns\u2019 hotel in Stanton, Missouri. \u2018Cave Man Dave\u2019 from Meramec Caverns even did a testimonial for our website, dressed in a bearskin and swinging a club.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Beal has offices in Kansas City, Wichita, Kansas, and Carbondale, Illinois. \u201cBut we work the entire states of Missouri and Illinois,\u201d says Beal. \u201cIf you need a roof in Hannibal or Ste. Genevieve, Metropolis or Chicago, I can do it.<\/p>\n

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\"If you call John Beal, we will arrive when promised.\"<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThere are several things that I absolutely insist on, and like my Grandpa, I\u2019m really stubborn about them. We show up on time. If you call John Beal, we will arrive when promised. Our crew stays on your job until it is completed. We do not pull crews to work on multiple projects. Your job gets our undivided attention until its done. And a real person always answers the phone. John Beal Roofing is a service-oriented company, and you can\u2019t get service from a recording.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beal\u2019s approach toward running his company has brought him national recognition. John Beal Inc. has been named one of the top 100 roofing contractors in the United States by National Roofing Contractor\u2019s Magazine.<\/p>\n

Beal continues to expand while other roofing companies are closing or laying off workers. \u201cI think people believe that we are totally sincere about making them happy, and they see us do things to back that up,\u201d he states. \u201cWe have a mission statement which says \u2018We will take advantage of no one and will allow no one to take advantage of us.\u2019 I consider it a mark of professionalism and I believe people respect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: John Beal\u2019s Family Has Spent Three Generations Up On the Roof By Steve DeBellis<\/em>
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many small town youngsters who had never been away from the family farm found themselves flung straight into the middle of World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Those who were fortunate enough to return home intact had learned skills that they could not have imagined when they first reported to their draft …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThree Generations Up On A Roof - John Beal Roofing - Roof Repair & Replacement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/johnbealroofing.com\/three-generations-up-on-a-roof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three Generations Up On A Roof - John Beal Roofing - Roof Repair & Replacement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many small town youngsters who had never been away from the family farm found themselves flung straight into the middle of World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. 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