Tournament of Roses President Beckhart Dies

Delmer D. Beckhart, this year’s president of the Tournament of Roses Assn. and a Pasadena civic leader, died Sunday of an undisclosed illness. He was 59.

Beckhart, an architect and longtime volunteer with the group that organizes the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl game, had been diagnosed last month with the ailment and died unexpectedly, a tournament spokesman said.

Since January, when he was elected president, Beckhart had pushed to open up the association, doubling the number of new members.

Tournament officials said he sought to counter criticism that the group gives too little back to the community and excludes minorities. That accusation, which followed the group’s selection of a descendant of Christopher Columbus as grand marshal in 1991, gained new energy in April when a group of African-American Pasadena leaders charged that the tournament ignores minority hiring and subcontracting requirements applying to city contractors. The Tournament of Roses has a contract with the city of Pasadena and agreed to add an affirmative action to it.

As tournament president, Beckhart chose the theme “Fantastic Adventure” for the 1994 New Year’s Day parade, the organization’s 105th annual parade. He had traveled to China and Japan meeting prospective participants.

The vice president of a Los Angeles firm that designed the 14-story Gateway Plaza and other Pasadena office buildings, Beckhart was described by tournament associates as a quiet-spoken and effective leader who had served in a wide variety of tournament roles before taking over the 935-member group this year.

In addition to 24 years of work on the tournament, he was former president of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and founding member of Pasadena Now, a local business group. He was on the board of directors of Century Federal Savings and Loan Assn. and belonged to the local Rotary Club and other groups.

Beckhart is survived by his wife, Helen, and daughter, Leslie Kent Beckhart. Memorial services will be private. The association will host a ceremony honoring Beckhart at Tournament House in Pasadena at 6 p.m. Thursday.