Beck, Ray Merrill, 2001 October 16

This is a Living History interview with Ray Beck, Class of 1953, conducted by Marilyn Somers on October 16, 2001 at his home in Cedartown, Georgia. The subject is Mr. Beck’s life and experiences at Georgia Tech. Mr. Beck was born in Bowden, Georgia but after a year his family moved to Cedartown where they lived on a farm. He played sandlot football growing up and decided to play for the high school when he was old enough. He had not planned on going to college, but at the end of his Senior year of high school he tried out for the Georgia Tech football team, and Coach Dodd offered him a scholarship. He respected Coach Dodd as a coach and treated him as a second father. Mr. Beck went on to have a successful football career at Georgia Tech as a lineman and defensive guard and in his Senior year of college was drafted by the New York Giants for $6,000. While at Tech, Mr. Beck was also on the wrestling team for three years, joined the track team for a year, was a member of R.O.T.C., and was in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He can remember going to the Varsity every night for their hot dogs and also spending much of his leisure time at The Venician swimming pool and Robertson’s Tropical Gardens nightclub. The summer between his Junior and Senior years, Mr. Beck got married to Claire McKay but did not tell anyone. They lived separately for the first part of their marriage, but soon made it public and lived together in the Techwood Apartments. After playing a year with the Giants, Mr. Beck wanted to return to Tech to finish his Senior year and then go into the army to fulfill his R.O.T.C. requirement. He ended up playing football for Fort Jackson and spent some time in Korea after the war was over as a “sports officer.” In 1955 he returned to the Giants to play for three more years and won the World Championship in 1956. When his football career was over he started his own business called the Cedartown Atlanta Freight Line, which later became C & A. He has three sons, all of whom played football and helped with the family business as well.