Mourners pay tearful tribute to Vegas victim who saved wife
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Jack Beaton felt equally comfortable gripping a pair of tongs surrounded by friends or swinging his roofer’s hammer on a hot day at work. He died shielding his wife in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
More than 800 people packed into a California church on Saturday for one of the first memorial services for the 58 people killed when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from a Las Vegas casino hotel room nearly a week ago.
The service was held in Beaton’s hometown of Bakersfield, a community home to several victims.
In family pictures and in tearful tributes, Beaton, 54, was remembered as a fun-loving friend, a hardworking roofer by trade, a generous and kind-hearted neighbor, and above all a devoted husband and father. He took his wife, Laurie, to Las Vegas for the Route 91 Harvest festival to celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary, and he died in her arms.
“He told me, ‘Get down, get down, get down!’” Laurie Beaton told The Associated Press ahead of the memorial service.
He put his body on top of hers for protection, she said.
“He told me, ‘I love you, Laurie,’ and his arms were around me and his body just went heavy on me,” she said.
Jeff Sallee, a next-door neighbor to the Beatons, said Jack was the kind of person who put others first. If you tried to thank him for his kindness, Sallee said, he would cut you off and say: “Well, that’s just what you do. Doesn’t everyone?”
Inside the church, the family displayed photos from the couple’s wedding and family portraits throughout the years. His football jersey from Kern Valley High School was laid out near a portrait of him wearing it as a young man. There was a coffee mug that had “I Love Dad” painted on it in bright colors.
He leaves behind a 20-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter.
Vice President Mike Pence, in Las Vegas on Saturday, praised the heroic response by police and others in the crowd, and he mentioned that Beaton shielded his wife.
“In the depths of horror we will always find hope in the men and women who risk their lives,” Pence said.
Friends remembered Beaton’s easy smile, his love of camping with family and friends, and his fondness for a cold beer and a shot of Maker’s Mark. He was genuine with no pretenses, a what-you-see-is-whatyou-get kind of guy, friends said.
The Beatons traveled to the music festival with two other couples, including Dario and Kim Catallo, close friends they often took trips with.
“He was the life of the party,” Dario Catallo said, adding that Jack made friends quickly.