John Beall Overcame The Thorns To Enjoy Sweet Smell Of Success

John L. Beall dealt with some serious thorns during his 77 years.

But by using his wits, generous spirit and ambition, this scion of Vashon Island pioneer farmers saw everything come up roses for himself and his family.

While loading rockets into Marine Air Corps planes in World War II, Mr. Beall was struck by a 1,200-pound rocket that accidentally was dropped on his back, causing a chronic injury.

Heading a flower farm in Palo Alto, Calif., from 1946 to 1973, he had to give it up to city developers.

Then, when they moved to Bogota, Colombia, to supply flowers for a conglomerate, the business group went bankrupt.

Yet he overcame: He left a thriving flower company - Beall Roses - to his wife and daughters, and enriched the floral industry with his innovations, his family said.

Mr. Beall died Wednesday after a long illness.

"He was a strong person and determined not to be defeated," said his wife of 55 years, Elaine Beall of Seattle.

"While we were in California, he was one of 10 growers who helped promote air cargo and shipping flowers by air. Before that, to get flowers to Seattle by Christmas, he would fly with the flowers in the hold of commercial airliners, watching temperatures."

During the California years, said his wife, Mr. Beall also worked with the Whirlpool Corp. to make a machine to blow carbon dioxide-enriched air into greenhouses to enhance rose color and quality.

"We didn't need the machines when we went to Bogota," said Elaine Beall. "It's 9,000 feet up, and the atmosphere there makes for fabulous rose color."

That 50-acre farm, bought by Mr. Beall when the Colombia conglomerate went broke, is part of Beall Roses, which is now run by Mr. Beall's daughter, Johna Beall of Seattle. The company supplies wholesalers the world over.

Reared on Vashon, Mr. Beall attended the University of Washington and did graduate work in horticulture at Cornell and at Ohio State universities.

"Whatever he did, he did with intensity," said Johna Beall. "On vacation in the Southwest, he got a 4-wheel-drive vehicle, and we explored Navajo country in detail. When he got into boating, and we had our yacht, we made five trips to Alaska, and he learned everything there was to know about the Inside Passage."

Mr. Beall wasn't reluctant to share his knowledge.

"He always shared whatever information he could with others in the industry," said retired floral wholesaler Bob Schurke. His roses were the best."

However, that sharing had its limits, said Johna Beall.

"He could have been world-renowned for what he knew about roses, gone on lecture tours and so on," she said. "But he chose a private life. His choice was to be with his family."

Other survivors include his daughters Mary Lou Edgecomb, of Atlanta, Ga.; Sandra Stockwell, Silverdale, Kitsap County, and Wendy Chmura, Chicago; his brother, Tom Wallace Beall, Sr., New Mexico; his sister, Constance Pease, Seattle, plus seven grandchildren.

A memorial service was scheduled for 2 p.m. today in the Church of the Holy Spirit, 15420 Vashon Highway S.W., Vashon Island.

"He was adamant that you only gave flowers for a funeral," said his wife. "Never money, or remembrances of other kinds."