LeRoy Garfield "Roy" Beechler (October 17, 1880 – November 14, 1946) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He played football for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

's 1904 "Point-a-Minute" team. He was the head football coach at

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduate ...

in Ohio in 1905.

Early years

Beechler was born in

Ithaca, Michigan Ithaca is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located very near the geographical center of the state's lower peninsula. The population was 2,910 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Gratiot County Gratiot County ( ') is a county in th ...

in October 1880 and educated in the Ithaca public schools. His parents, Jacob Sidney Beechler and Dora (Rasor) Beechler were of Dutch descent. In 1900, the family was living in Newark Township,

Gratiot County, Michigan Gratiot County ( ') is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 41,761. The county seat is Ithaca, although its most populous city is Alma. Gratiot County comprises the Alma, MI Micropolitan Statistica ...

University of Michigan

Beechler began his education at

Alma College Alma College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,400 students and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Alma College is affiliat ...

and played football for Alma's 1902 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship football team. He later enrolled in the Department of Engineering at the University of Michigan. In 1907, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.General Catalogue of officers and students, 1837-1911, University of Michigan, 1912, p. 268. While attending Michigan, he played football for the

1904 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1904 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1904 Western Conference football season. In the team's fourth season under head coach Fielding H. Yost, the Wolverines compiled a perfect 10–0 record and o ...

. Beechler played at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and tackle positions for Michigan. He suffered an injury that sidelined him for a portion of the season. The 1904 Michigan team was the fourth of

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

's "Point-a-Minute" teams. The team compiled a record of 10–0 and outscored its opponents 567 to 22.

Coaching

After playing for Yost's "Point-a-Minute" team in 1904, Beechler was hired as the head football coach at

for the 1905 season. He compiled a 2–6 record as the team's head coach. Beechler was referred to among the student body at Mt. Union as "our Michigan University coach." In September 1906, Beechler was hired as coach for the Ann Arbor High School football team. Beechler also served as an assistant coach under Fielding Yost at Michigan for the

1909 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1909 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1909 college football season. The team's head coach was Fielding H. Yost in his ninth year at Michigan. The Wolverines compiled a record of 6–1, outscored ...

that compiled a 6–1 record and outscored opponents 116 to 34. At the post-season football banquet on November 23, 1909, Yost thanked his coaching staff: "Mr. Redden, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Beechler and all the others who have been with us throughout the season deserve their full share of the credit.

Family and engineering career

In August 1907, Beechler was married to Margaret Willets (1882-1958) in

Essex County, Ontario Essex County is a primarily rural county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising seven municipalities: Amherstburg, Kingsville, Ontario, Kingsville, Lakeshore, Ontario, Lakeshore, LaSalle, Ontario, LaSalle, Leamington, Ontario, Leamington, Tec ...

. They had two children, Jack Sidney Beechler (born April 26, 1910, in Detroit) and Richard Willets Beechler. Beechler's professional career was spent with manufacturing firms in Detroit. He began his career working for the Detroit Stoker & Foundry Company. As of 1912, Beechler was employed by the Metal Products Co. in Detroit. He became the chief engineer at Metal Products Co. where spent three years and was responsible for designing axles and tools. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he tested trucks manufactured for use by the government. After Metal Products was acquired by the Timken Company, he became the manager of the former Metal Products plant and later became the assistant chief engineer at Timken's main plant. Beechler was also an inventor who had several patents registered with the U. S. Patent Office. In January 1920, Beechler and F. C. Gilbert co-founded the Vulcan Motor Axle Co. to build a complete line of axles for automobiles. Beechler served as the company's chief engineer. At the time of the 1920 United States Census, he was working as a mechanical engineer for an axle company in Detroit. He was living in Detroit with his wife Margaret and their two sons, Jack and Richard. By 1930, Beechler and his family had moved to

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...

, where Beechler was employed as a mechanical engineer with a horn and radio corporation. Beechler later became the owner of the Clinton Theater in St. Johns, Michigan. He died in a hospital near St. John's in November 1946 after an illness lasting three years.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beechler, Roy 1880 births 1946 deaths American football centers American football tackles Alma Scots football players Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Mount Union Purple Raiders football coaches People from Ithaca, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan People from St. Johns, Michigan