Ryan Beaupre

Beaupre Funeral Held in St. Anne, Ill.

Ryan Beaupre, Class of 1995, was laid to rest on Thursday, April 3, at 10 a.m. in his hometown of St. Anne, Ill.

Beaupre, a Marine captain, was killed in a helicopter crash in Kuwait Thursday, March 20, thereby becoming one of the first U.S. casualties of the war in Iraq. He was the pilot of the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter that crashed, killing eight British and three other Marines. The helicopter assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force crashed at 6:37 p.m. CST (Friday morning in Kuwait), about nine miles away from the border with Iraq, military officials said.

An overflow crowd at St. Anne Catholic Church paid respects to Beaupre at te funeral mass. A day earlier, on April 2, the wake for Beapre drew hundreds to the St. Anne Grade School.

On May 25, the University held a memorial services in Evelyn Chapel where former classmates, members of the administration and faculty, and current students remembered him.

Jack Fields, University Registrar and adviser to Sigma Pi social fraternity of which Beaupre was a member, was joined in offering comments by two alumni, Mark Howard of Washington, D.C., and Corey Dean of Chicago.

• Read Jack Fields' eulogy

• Read Mike Howard's eulogy

• Read Corey Dean's eulogy

• Share memories or thoughts about Ryan Beaupre

On Friday, March 28, the Illinois State House of Representatives passed a resolution in honor of Beaupre and observed a moment of silence.

A native of St. Anne, Ill., majored in accounting at the University where he was on the Dean’s List and was the recipient of the Growmark Outstanding Accounting Major Award in 1994. He was a member and treasurer of Sigma Pi social fraternity, competed in cross country and track, and was a recruitment peer at the University’s Career Center for two years.

In addition, he was a member of the Illinois Wesleyan Accounting Society and was a volunteer at "Home-Sweet-Home" mission, a homeless shelter and transitional housing program, in Bloomington.

"The University community is obviously saddened by this tragic news," said Janet McNew, Illinois Wesleyan provost. "We certainly have Ryan’s family and all of his many friends from Illinois Wesleyan in our thoughts."

Jack Fields, registrar at Illinois Wesleyan and adviser to Sigma Pi fraternity, remembered Ryan as "one of the best. He is one of the kids who really stands out in my memory. He was confident but not arrogant. The calm certainty about him inspired confidence. I would think that he would have made an excellent officer. He would inspire men to follow him.

"When I think of Ryan, I am reminded of the opening of the old Andy Griffith show where Opie is going fishing with the fishing pole in his hand. That is the perfect caricature of Ryan — this all-American kid with a shock of red hair and a happy gait, not that he was carefree and happy-go-lucky. He had this presence about him that made you feel good to be around him."

Jerry Olson, associate professor of accounting at Illinois Wesleyan, was Beaupre's academic adviser and remembers being surprised to learn that his former student was planning a military career. "I never thought of Ryan as someone who would be headed in that direction," said Olson. "But I did know that he wanted to be a pilot."

Olson said that Beaupre was an extremely bright student in a very strong class of accounting majors. "He was very, very dependable," Olson said. "I found him to be very quiet, but he worked hard at everything he did."

Immediately after his graduation from Illinois Wesleyan, Beaupre went to work at State Farm Insurance Co. in Bloomington where he stayed from June 1995 until September 1996 when he elected to go into the U.S. Marine Corps.

"I know that being a pilot was Ryan's dream job," said Ann Harding, assistant director of the Career Center where Beaupre worked as a student. "When I heard about this today, I thought that Ryan could have been working as an accountant at State Farm and as safe as we all are. But he wouldn't have been happy if he hadn't pursued his dream to fly."

Beaupre, who was based at Camp Pendelton in California, is survived by his parents, two sisters, and a brother.

• Associated Press story from The Pantagraph (3/21/03)

• The Pantagraph (3/22/03)

• WHOI-TV (3/22/03)

• Chicago Sun-Times (3/22/03)

• New York Times (3/22/03) (subscription)

• Chicago Tribune (3/22/03) (subscription)

• The Pantagraph (3/26/03)

• Chicago Sun-Times (4/3/03)

• Chicago Sun-Times (4/4/03)

• NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (Real Player Audio) (4/4/03)