Paul Winslow Beazley, 76, of Columbia, died Tuesday, May 27, 2014, at his home following a brief illness. He was the son of the late W.R. Beazley and Alice Marie Dunn Beazley of Covington, VA; and husband of 50 years to Marcia Rushworth Beazley.

A memorial service for Mr. Beazley will be held 4 o'clock, Friday, May 30th, in the Christ Chapel of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, 4201 North Main St., Columbia. The family will greet friends following the service in Reinartz Hall at the Seminary.

Paul was a graduate of East Tennessee State University and the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA, where he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He served for three years in the 7th Army Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

As a minister, he served the congregations of Marks Creek and Marstan Presbyterian Churches in Hamlet, NC, and was later Director of Retreat and Conference programs for the Mecklenburg Presbytery.

In 1971, Paul and Marcia moved to Columbia and Paul entered the masters of education program at the University of South Carolina. After graduation, he went to work for the South Carolina State Human Affairs Commission where he served for 29 years, retiring in 2001 as Deputy Commissioner.

He then served seven years as Coordinator of the State Employee Campaign of the United Way of the Midlands.

Paul was a man of passions. For many years, he was an ardent tennis player and attained the US rank of 44 in the men's 65 age group. He won many USTA senior tournaments throughout the southeast. He later returned to golf, a sport of his youth. He loved playing great rounds of golf with his Cockfield Golf Group at Ft. Jackson.

His primary passions, however, were reserved for his week-long boat trips down the rivers of South Carolina and for his friends. Nothing pleased him more than to be surrounded by his buddies telling stories and reminiscing about how good life really was.

Paul served on a number of boards including Leadership South Carolina, the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council, and the Midlands Marine Institute, a program to assist juvenile non-violent offenders. He served as president of the alumni association for the SC Executive Institute, the executive training program for state government. He was a charter member of the Eau Claire Rotary Club.

Additionally, Paul lectured frequently throughout the US and Canada on equal employment opportunity.

Mr. Beazley is survived by his wife; son, Paul Derrick Beazley (Jennifer); grandson, Ethan Jackson Beazley, all of Houston, TX; brother, Charles Beazley (Judy) of Columbia; and sister, Joanne Wallace of Albuquerque, NM.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, 4201 North Main St., Columbia, SC 29203, or the United Way of the Midlands, 1800 Main St., Columbia, SC 29201.