Robert J. Beckham peacefully went home to the Lord on September 14, 2009. The son of Judge Walter and Clara Beckham, Bob was born January 21, 1930 in Miami and graduated from Miami Senior High School. He was a Navy veteran and graduated with honors from both Emory University and the University of Florida College of Law where he was editor of the Law Review. He began his legal career in Miami in 1955 and moved to Jacksonville in 1975. For over 50 years, Bob was proud to be a trial lawyer as he zealously represented clients forced to rely upon our legal system for protection and justice. He tried hundreds of cases on behalf of people and companies, the powerful and powerless, and won his last trial only a month before his death. Volunteering his time with the Innocence Project, Bob helped prove a man sentenced to life in prison had been wrongly convicted of murder and the conviction was set aside and the man freed. He received the 2007 Equal Justice Award from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. He was member of many legal organizations and a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville. He is survived by his loving wife of 21 years, Emily, his brother Walter (Ethel), his sons Robert (Sandra), Eugene (Pamela), and John; and also by Emily's three children, Walter Mingledorff II (wife Tina and son Walter III), Christa Mingledorff (daughter Cailla Fleming), Beth Higgins (husband Ron and daughter Addie), and her mother, Emogene Ashmore. He was much-loved by all. Bob's funeral will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 225 East Duval Street, Jacksonville, Florida at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 18, 2009, followed by burial in Oaklawn Cemetery in Jacksonville.