Thinking back to freshman year...
Professor Beall was my teacher for Chemistry 1010, in A term 1999. That was probably the last class he ever taught, since he was diagnosed with cancer during the term break. I remember coming back from break and finding out we had a different professor for CH1020 (that really short woman, I don't remember her name; I saw her there today, too). I was disappointed, moreso when my grades started going down; her class was harder than Beall's. But one of the things that disappointed me the most: Upperclassmen had told me that Beall always ended the term for CH1020 by singing Tom Lehrer's song "The Elements". This seemed so cool, and I couldn't wait to see it: but then Beall didn't come back. I was disappointed, and I felt very selfish about it. I mean, the man had cancer, and I was worrying about a little in-class entertainment?
Back to the present: the memorial service ended with a videotape of a lecture/presentation done by Professor Beall. It didn't take me too long to realize what this was going into. Yes, I finally got to see Herb Beall sing "The Elements"! I never knew the man well, but this gave me a satisfying sense of closure. It also made me appreciate once again the humor and good-nature of the man I saw every day for 7 weeks, and very rarely after that. It was Herbert Beall who shaped my first term at WPI, along with Professor Goulet, Professor Policelli (at the time, an adjunct),