Matthew Tilghman Beall, musician and photographer, devoted dog trainer and determined survivor of life’s indignities, let go and gently died at midnight, May 6, 2026. He was 74. Matt was born August 23, 1951 in Takoma Park, Maryland, but the family lived in Fairfax, Virginia where he grew up. During his childhood it was a rural town 14 miles west of Washington, D.C. Most of his adult life was spent in the surrounding Fairfax County, and he lived the changes as the area transformed into an urban metro region. When Matt retired in 2016, he chose to leave, moving to Athens, Georgia, a college town with a lively arts scene, where he enjoyed the ease and friendliness of a small Southern city.

Always impatient with convention and custom, Matt dropped out of high school at age 17. He passed the GED exam and went on to attend various colleges without graduating from any of them, then to secure a Civil Service position with the Defense Mapping Agency. Two years of being a bureaucrat was enough. He quit a secure government job to start Beall Janitorial Service, which really meant he cleaned houses and small office buildings, work he called a form of meditation. He meditated in this way for 17 years. During the last 5 of those years, Matt returned to college, earning a Bachelor of Individualized Study degree from George Mason University and a Master of Science in Library Science from Catholic University. He worked as a Media Specialist/Librarian for two different public school systems, in elementary and middle schools, and considered the highlight of that career time spent reading aloud to kindergarten classes. Children called him The Liberry Man.

A job was necessary, but Matt’s real life happened outside the workplace, with his marriage of 47 years, his beloved daughter, his Labrador Retrievers, his music and photography, reading and writing, his love of storytelling and humor. Everything Matt did, he approached with focused dedication and skill. He was a musician and composer who played jazz, roots, and rock music on guitar, pedal steel guitar, and saxophone. He did his own darkroom work back in the film days of photography, then fully embraced the change to digital. Matt was a discerning reader and writer who subscribed to countless print magazines instead of using social media. He built and installed wood stoves used exclusively for home heat during six winters. He was an excellent shade-tree mechanic who maintained his motorcycles and cars. Long before there were drones, Matt built remote-controlled model airplanes and flew them. At different times he pursued speed-skating, backpacking, camping, and bicycling. He was a perfectionist about cooking. His dogs and their training became a major part of his later years.

Matt’s proactive and disciplined approach to life served him well after his treatment for throat cancer in 2004. Radiation and a radical neck dissection removed the cancer but left him in a fragile state of health. To the surprise of his doctors, Matt returned to work as a librarian for another ten years, followed by a decade of retirement.

Matt is survived by his wife, Mary Overton; daughter, Corrina Beall; grandson, Langston Moss; and brothers, John, Laurence, and Andrew.

A celebration of Matt’s life will be held June 30, 2:00 pm, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens. A social gathering will be that evening, 6:00-8:00 pm, at Normal Bar in the Normaltown neighborhood of Athens. You are invited to attend either one or both of these remembrances as we honor Matt’s remarkable life.

Athens Cremation Services, Watkinsville, GA is assisting the family with the arrangements. www.athenscremationservices.com