burlignton County Distinguished Citizen “Good Scout” Award

Recipient: Lee Bealuk

As a resident of Medford, New Jersey for over 55 years, Lee has spent that entire time in Scouting within Burlington County. Lee is honored to be here today to receive this award.

Having lost his father at the age of 10, Lee looked to the Boy Scouts for guidance, and he certainly found it. A few exceptional Scout Leaders served as father figures for him and then Lee spent the next 70 years paying it forward.

Lee Bealuk Scouts BSA Troop 20 Birchwood Colony Club, Medfor

Lee joined the BSA in 1949 and has been continuously registered and remains heavily involved to this day. His original Troop (226), located in the Lawndale section of Philadelphia, where Lee grew up, just celebrated 100 years of being a Scout Troop. Along the Scouting trail, in 1953, Lee was elected to the Order of Arrow (OA). He is a rare member of the original OA Unami Lodge, which resides on Treasure Island. Treasure Island, which is located in the Delaware River, is the oldest Scout Camp in the Country. The OA was founded there in 1915. Lee is a lifetime member of Friends of Treasure Island and was part of the workforce that brought Treasure Island back to life after several floods nearly destroyed the Island in the mid 2000’s.

After turning 18, Lee joined the Army and, ultimately, attained the rank of Sergeant. Serving a total of six years, he spent two of those years in Alaska in the middle of the cold war. Lee was stationed in Alaska when it became our 49th State.

In 1962, after being Honorably Discharged from the Army, Lee became the Scoutmaster of his old Troop, Troop 226. Later that year, he married the love of his life, Kathleen. They moved to Andalusia, located in Bucks County, in 1965. Shortly thereafter, Lee helped start a new Troop, Troop 155 and he became its first Scoutmaster.

In 1968, Lee and Kathleen moved to Medford in Burlington County, NJ. With Lee’s reputation preceding him, he was recruited to become Assistant

Scoutmaster of Troop 20. In 1970, Lee became Scoutmaster, a position he held for the next 25 years.

During this 25-year period, Lee and Kathy also raised a family. Their son, Gregg, was born in 1970 and their daughter, Jennifer, was born in 1974. Lee now also enjoys four wonderful Grandchildren.

During the same timeframe, Lee was appointed to the Medford Township Zoning Board where he became Vice Chairman and later Chairman. Lee was also twice-appointed Grand Marshall of the Medford Memorial Day Parade.

In 1995, Lee “retired” from the Scoutmaster roll but, he certainly did not retire from Scouting. He was named Scoutmaster Emeritus. He became and remains Troop 20’s Committee Chairman to this day. He has also served as an Eagle Scout mentor for 96 Eagle Scouts and counting (he also managed to raise an Eagle Scout as well). When Lee was a Boy Scout, he attained the rank of Life Scout but much more significant is that Lee is a “Scout for Life”. As his son likes to say, “Dad; of the two of us, I may be the Eagle Scout, but you are the better Scout”. “You are everything that is good about Scouting”. The impact Lee has had on the lives of Burlington County’s young men is immeasurable.

If all of that isn’t enough, Lee is also a Silver Beaver Award recipient. Additionally, he was awarded the Religious Scouting Award - Life Family Church

Beyond Scouting, Lee has been a successful businessman, running two different businesses over a five-decade career. Then, like with Scouting, Lee attempted to “retire”. That didn’t last more than a few months and that was some 18 years ago. Lee is still working full time for the State of New Jersey, and he loves it. People are like oxygen to him and his true niche in life is to help others. Fortunately for the rest of us, he has been incredibly successful at helping others.

Your friend in Scouting, Lee Bealuk