Alan Austen Beel, Prominent Local AIDS Activist, Dies

Alan Austen Beel, an outspoken Orange County AIDS activist who helped others despite his own battle with the disease, has died of AIDS. He was 58.

Beel died at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange on Dec. 7.

He was a volunteer at Laguna Shanti in Laguna Beach, AIDS Response Program in Garden Grove, Laguna Beach Community Clinic, and the AIDS Services Foundation in Irvine.

Beel received a special award as the person who raised the most money for AIDS Walk Orange County last year.

Born in Chicago, he attended the University of Colorado at Boulder. He worked with several major advertising agencies in New York City, married and moved to St. Thomas, where he managed a hotel.

He later divorced and met his life partner, Randy Martinson, then moved to California in 1976. In 1978, he became a charter member of the Irvine Board of Realtors and served as a director of both the Irvine board and the California Assn. of Realtors.

Beel is survived by Martinson of Irvine and three children, son Peter of Sunset Beach and daughters Kristen Lewis and Molly Beel of Austin, Tex.

A memorial service will be held today at 3 p.m. at Irvine United Church of Christ, 4915 Alton Parkway in Irvine.

Donations can be made in Beel’s memory to AIDS Services Foundation Orange County, 1792 Skypark Circle, Suite J, Irvine, Calif. 92714.