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Obituary

He placed boys back on straight and narrow

Robert Beaumont, who used tough love at San Antonio Boys Village, died Sunday at 71.

By JAMES THORNER
Published May 18, 2005

SAN ANTONIO, Fla. - To some outsiders, the kids at San Antonio Boys Village were bad news.

But to Robert Beaumont, the former executive director of the San Antonio, Fla., halfway house for delinquent teen boys, they were "beauties."

"Big Bob" to his charges, "Boe" to his friends, Mr. Beaumont died Sunday of heart failure at East Pasco Medical Center in Zephyrhills. He was 71.

For 14 years between 1986 and 2000, Mr. Beaumont ran the boys home with tough love. The boys, most repeat offenders one misstep away from jail, earned their keep in a licensed plant nursery run by the boys village.

In the philosophy of Mr. Beaumont, a scuffed knee received on a tree swing could be character building. Good behavior was rewarded, sometimes with a ride on minibikes Mr. Beaumont kept on hand.

"It was the carrot on the stick. If you followed the rules you got to play, if you didn't, you didn't," said Bill Beaumont, one of Mr. Beaumont's seven siblings.

It all seemed to work: An estimated 70 percent of his boys rejected crime after leaving the boys village after average stays of six months.

Born in Sewickley, Pa., Mr. Beaumont moved with his parents and siblings to San Antonio, then a mostly Catholic community where the Beaumonts felt at home.

He attended Saint Leo prep school, served in the Army during the Korean War era, and got a job at the American Can plant in Dade City.

Dissatisfied with the assembly line, he went to Saint Leo College to earn his degree. A midcareer change landed him at the boys village.

Mr. Beaumont was known for his eccentric wit and self-taught skill at the guitar. He was married several times. A golf lover, he kept a private putting green at his house on a rural spread in San Antonio.

"He liked to wear golfing shorts and show off probably the homeliest knees in Pasco County," his brother said.

Mr. Beaumont is survived by his three children, two grandsons, two brothers, three sisters and many nieces and nephews. His family will receive friends at Hodges Family Funeral Home in Dade City from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today. St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church will have a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Thursday, followed by a reception at the church hall.

[Last modified May 18, 2005, 00:51:10]