John Beard attended Buena Vista Storm Lake University at Storm Lake, Iowa,, and Omaha (Nebraska) Theological seminary to become ordained a Presbyterian minister. During World War I he was commissioned a U.S. Army chaplain, serving in France before returning to civilian pastorates to churches in Randolph and Wayne, Nebraska; in Iowa; and in Washington State. For 25 years he was Pastor at Mount Tabor Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon, and served as Chaplain for the Oregon National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He loved outdoor adventures and history, and once canoed 1,200 miles from Montana to Bismarck, North Dakota, with his son. He and his wife rode horseback along the Oregon Trail from Oregon City to Independence, Missouri, and he subsequently wrote a book of their adventure titled “Saddles East.”