Former RMA leader dies

GAINESVILLE - Colonel John L. &#34;Judge&#34; Beaver, who served Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville as superintendent and vice president from 1946 until 1963, has died of complications from pneumonia at the age of 90. <br> <br> When Col. Beaver retired for health reasons in 1963, he moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was living at the time of his death Wednesday. <br> <br> He served on the Riverside board of trustees from 1938 until 1993 and was chairman of that board for 23 years. <br> <br> &#34;Judge&#34; Beaver got his nickname because of his somber demeanor as a child, according to a news release from Riverside announcing his death. He was born in Columbia, S.C., in 1912. A few months later, his father, Gen. Sandy Beaver, became president of Riverside, which had been founded in 1907. In 1915, Gen. Beaver bought the school.<br> <br> Col. Beaver is credited with &#34;strategic management and growth&#34; of the academy&#39;s investment portfolio, which enabled the school to recently rebuild parts of the campus to provide state-of-the-art academic and athletic facilities.<br> <br> Funeral services for Col. Beaver will be announced later.

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