Family, friends, former students, local leaders, and the greater Oakland community attended a memorial Saturday honoring revered Laney College and former Skyline High School coach John Beam, who was allegedly killed by a former Laney student in November.
As the Chronicle reports, about 2,200 people were in attendance at Saturday's memorial for longtime coach and mentor John Beam at Oakland’s Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. Per the Chronicle, Sunday would’ve been Beam’s 67th birthday.
As KPIX reports, Beam helped mentor over 30 NFL players, seven of which were Super Bowl participants, and many were in attendance Saturday.
“He was the embodiment of tough love, though I didn’t realize it at 14 or 15,” said Marvel Smith, who played for Beam at Skyline, per the Chronicle, and went on to play in the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006 and 2009. “He was setting a structure in place to help us long term, and I fully appreciate it now. It molded me into who I am today.”
“You were so much more than a football coach, you were my hero, my mentor and the most important person in my life,” said Kevin Parker, a former player, per KPIX. “You believed in me before I believed in myself and that belief changed who I am.”
Per NBC Bay Area, Beam also mentored students who weren’t football players. “I know that there’s been a lot of challenges in our city, but there’s still a lot of good, and John Beam brought a lot of that goodness out of community members, especially through young people and the rising generation,” said Feke Lauti, a 1997 Skyline High graduate whose older brothers played football.
“This is what a life well lived looks like,” said Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, per the Chronicle. “This is 45 years of love returned. Coach Beam believed in Oakland’s young people when the world told them what they were not. He saw potential where others saw problems.”
“I was born in the middle of football season,” said Beam’s daughter Sonjha, per KPIX. “And if you ask my dad, that was no coincidence. He always said it was perfect timing, early enough in the morning so he could be there with my mom, hold me and then still make it back up the hill to Skyline in time for practice.”
As SFist reported in November, Cedric Irving, Jr., who took one of Beam’s classes at Laney College in 2022, is suspected of fatally shooting Beam. Irving reportedly told police he believed Beam was practicing witchcraft on him. Per SFist, Beam was featured in the 2020 Netflix series, Last Chance U.
In the below video clip, Beam delivers an inspiring speech to athletes during a luncheon.
Image: Laney College
Previously: Alleged Shooter of Laney College Football Coach Reportedly Claimed Coach Used Witchcraft on Him
