Person Page - 5940

     Her Social Security Number was 223-62-8552.⁷ Margaret Ann Lawson was buried at Old Dominion Memorial Gardens, 7271 Cloverdale Road, Cloverdale, Botetourt Co., Virginia.^5,8 She was born on March 25, 1945 at Elliston, Montgomery Co., Virginia.^8,2,7 As of December 28, 1963,her married name was Beard.² She married Steven Donald Beard Sr. on December 28, 1963 at Roanoke, Virginia.^1,8,2 Margaret Ann Lawson A fire at a house in Southeast Roanoke prompted the discovery of an apparent murder-suicide Friday morning. The evidence indicates that a 54-year-old Roanoke man shot his wife to death and then turned the handgun on himself, a state medical examiner said. Authorities were called to the house at the end of a road in the Garden City neighborhood after an off-duty firefighter spotted billowing black smoke and followed it to its source. Fire officials think fires were set in three places in the house and garage, and police are trying to find out whether the husband set them before the shootings. Dr. William Massello, a state medical examiner, said Steven and Margaret Beard of 1424 Kefauver Road S.E. both died of gunshot wounds to the head. Evidence at the scene and the wounds themselves indicate that Steven Beard shot his wife and then himself, Massello said. Margaret Beard, 54, was found in her bed in a first-floor bedroom. Her husband was found next to the bed, police Sgt. Stan Smith said. Two handguns were found in the house, Smith said. Fire Lt. Marlan Morris said a fire was started near the first-floor entrance, on the far side of the house from the bedroom. Another fire started in the basement, and a third started at the far end of the garage, which was separated from the house by a breezeway. There did not appear to be heat sources near those points that could have started a fire accidentally, Morris said. The fire was reported about 8:30 a.m. The Beards' 9-year-old niece, who lived with the couple, had been picked up a few hours earlier to go on a school field trip to Jamestown. Fire Lt. John Manspile first spotted the blaze. He said he had left his girlfriend's house and saw black smoke while driving on Mount Pleasant Boulevard. "I drove three or four blocks past the smoke before turning around," he said. "It kept eating at me. It didn't look like a brush fire. I went down Brooks Street first, then went down Kefauver." He saw flames coming from the garage. Manspile called 911 from his cell phone and then tried to enter the house three times, but was repelled by the smoke. He yelled to see if anyone was inside. But he couldn't hear anything because of propane tanks and paint cans exploding in the garage, he said. After firefighters arrived, it took 10 to 15 minutes to get the fires under control, he said. The garage was gutted, but the flames inside the house did little damage. Smith said the Police Department is waiting for the arson investigators' report. He said it was too early to confirm whether Steven Beard was responsible for the fires, but "we don't have any information at this point that anyone else set the fire." Smith said it's also too early to speculate on a motive. But he confirmed that investigators are looking at the possibility that Beard had health problems that may have had something to do with his actions. Ed Boothe, who worked with Beard at ADT. Security, said Beard had worked for the company for more than 30 years, but that he retired on disability three years ago because of back problems. Boothe worked with Beard for 16 years. "He was" a good guy," he said. "He'd do anything for anybody." The Beards had lived on Kefauver for more than a decade, neighbors said. Their frame house has a big, sloping yard protected by a chain-link fence and a row of seven white pines along the road. Neighbors said they were friendly but private. Steven or Margaret Beard would walk their niece to her bus stop each day and chat with people along the way. D.T. Short, who has lived on the street since 1948, said it's a quiet neighborhood and the Beards were nice people who fit in. He said the Beards had adult children and had taken responsibility for their niece after Margaret Beard's sister died in 1992. on May 15, 1989.⁹ She died on May 14, 1999 at Roanoke, Virginia, at age 54.^8,5,7 She BEARD, Steven D., Sr., 53, and Margaret Ann Beard, 54, of Roanoke, went to be with the Lord on Friday, May 14, 1999. Mr. Beard was a U. S. Navy Veteran. Surviving are their children, Steven D. Beard, Jr. and wife, Victoria T., Ronald W. Beard and wife, Hope C., Misty D. Eubank and husband, Richard; grandchildren, Christian X. Beard, Rachel J. Beard, Seth T. Beard, Corey A. Eubank, Taylor L. Eubank, Brendan T. Eubank, Ryan W. Eubank; a very special niece, Jennifer M. Bishop. Mr. Beard is also survived by his sisters, Delores Hambrick, Barbara Handy and husband, Kelvin, Sara Church and husband, Gary; his brothers, Marshall Beard and wife, Nancy, Charles Beard and wife, Barbara. Mrs. Beard is also survived by her mother, Dorothy Lawson; her sisters, Betty Musser and husband, Alan, Linda Padgett and husband, Randy, Patricia Lawson; her brothers, Roger Lawson and wife, Leah, Ronnie Lawson; numerous other loving extended family and friends. Graveside services will be in Old Dominion Memorial Gardens, Botetourt County. on May 17, 1999.⁵

     Steven Donald Beard Sr. was born on December 22, 1945 at Roanoke, Virginia.^1,3,4 He married Margaret Ann Lawson, daughter of Lindsey Arl Lawson and Dorothy Marie Epperly, on December 28, 1963 at Roanoke, Virginia.^5,1,3 Steven Donald Beard Sr. died on May 14, 1999 at Roanoke, Virginia, at age 53.^1,2,6 He BEARD, Steven D., Sr., 53, and Margaret Ann Beard, 54, of Roanoke, went to be with the Lord on Friday, May 14, 1999. Mr. Beard was a U. S. Navy Veteran. Surviving are their children, Steven D. Beard, Jr. and wife, Victoria T., Ronald W. Beard and wife, Hope C., Misty D. Eubank and husband, Richard; grandchildren, Christian X. Beard, Rachel J. Beard, Seth T. Beard, Corey A. Eubank, Taylor L. Eubank, Brendan T. Eubank, Ryan W. Eubank; a very special niece, Jennifer M. Bishop. Mr. Beard is also survived by his sisters, Delores Hambrick, Barbara Handy and husband, Kelvin, Sara Church and husband, Gary; his brothers, Marshall Beard and wife, Nancy, Charles Beard and wife, Barbara. Mrs. Beard is also survived by her mother, Dorothy Lawson; her sisters, Betty Musser and husband, Alan, Linda Padgett and husband, Randy, Patricia Lawson; her brothers, Roger Lawson and wife, Leah, Ronnie Lawson; numerous other loving extended family and friends. Graveside services will be in Old Dominion Memorial Gardens, Botetourt County. on May 17, 1999.²

     Phyllis Jean Lawson was buried at Epperly Family Cemetery, Elliston, Montgomery Co., Virginia.^7,4,6 Her Social Security Number was 230-66-0600.³ Her married name was Bishop.⁷ She married Michael G. Bishop.^7,4,6 Phyllis Jean Lawson was born on September 23, 1946 at Elliston, Montgomery Co., Virginia; Her gravestone has a birth date of Sep 26, 1946.^7,2,3,4 She died on September 14, 1992 at Roanoke, Virginia, at age 45.^7,4,6 She Mrs. Phyllis Jean (Jeannie) Bishop, age 45 of Vinton, died Monday, September 14, 1992 in a local hospital. Surviving are her husband, Michael G. Bishop and a three year old daughter, Jennifer Marie Bishop; her mother, Dorothy Lawson, Roanoke; two brothers and a sister-in-law, Roger and Leah Lawson, Richmond; Ronnie Lawson, Roanoke; four sisters and three brothers-in-law, Margaret and Steve Beard, Roanoke; Linda and Randy Padgett, Bedford; Patricia Lawson, Roanoke; Betty and Allen Musser, Roanoke; mother and father-in-law, Kaye and Reynold Schmitt, Cartersville, Ga; stepdaughter, Dawn Reasons, Calif; and a number of nieces and nephews. Burial will be in the Epperly family cemetery, Elliston. on September 16, 1992.⁶