'The sweetest man I've ever known'
February 05, 2008
Amberly Mcateer
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 5, 2008)
TIM BECK 1976 - 2008
From the crowd, it seemed as though Tim Beck, a bass guitarist in several local punk bands over the last decade, was a brash, rebellious sort of guy.
Sporting tattoos and a spiked collar, he bounced around the stage, head banging, arms flailing.
But those who knew him describe a laid-back, devoted family man who kept to himself. "A gentle old soul who lived his life for the moment," says his wife Kyla O'Regan.
Beck's world centred around his two children, Cohen, 3 and Ruby, 1.
He often painted and wrote poetry, and enjoyed brushing his wife's hair every morning.
"It was our time together. I was always so tickled that I got to be with Tim. He was the sweetest man I've ever known."
Both their children have cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease requiring hospital visits, medication and daily home treatments. Beck took his kids' health seriously, "never wanting them to suffer for even a moment." He made their daily percussion treatment, a process of thumping the children's torsos so they can breathe more easily, as enjoyable as possible.
"He'd throw on Johnny Cash, and Daddy would play the drums on their back. They had the best time."
A practical joker, he used physical humour to make his friends laugh, not unlike his favourite comedian, Chris Farley.
"He was always such a goof, grinning like a Cheshire cat," recalls Bryan Brice, a fellow member of RiotStar, Beck's first punk band, popular in the underground culture in the late '90s.
The songs he penned were never malicious or violent, recalls the band's promoter, Lou Molinaro.
"He wrote about new love, good times with friends and heartbreak ... They could've been Chuck Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis songs, just dubbed to a harder sound."
At the height of his career as a performer, Beck developed addictions to alcohol and hard drugs. But he "took those demons by the tail" when his son was born, says Molinaro.
"If he was going through turmoil, you could never tell. He lit up the room -- he just radiated -- with that smile."
Sober for most of the last four years, Beck still battled with severe bouts of depression. In the early hours of Jan. 18, nearly a month shy of his 32nd birthday, he ended his life by driving his vehicle off the escarpment.
"I'm not angry at him for doing it," says O'Regan. "I just miss him ... He was a good man who loved me and our kids so much."
Beck left a list of songs to play at his funeral service, including the Johnny Cash song I Walk The Line.
A benefit concert will be held for Beck's family on March 7. For more information, e-mail Lou Molinaro at
doitfortimbeck@hotmail.com.
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