a
Time
The Beals Family:
On the frontlines
fueling MS
research
by Erica de Klerk
Eleanore Beals recalls attending a community health event
when she was quite young,
around the time her uncle was
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
The doctor in attendance relieved
her concerns by confirming that
MS could not be passed down to
other family members.
But then Laurie, one of their
two daughters, was diagnosed
with MS in the early 1990s.
A few years later at a family
reunion, Eleanore and her
husband Vaughn discovered
two other cases of MS in her
extended family.
As parents, Vaughn and
Eleanore walked that fine
line between supporting their
daughter and allowing her to
take charge of her own decisions
around the daily challenges of
living with MS. They reached
out to the National MS Society
to learn as much as they could
about the disease. about the disease.
Driving MS research forward
In December 2009, the Bealses
made a generous gift to MS
research in honor of Laurie to
the Society.
“Since then,” Eleanore
recounted, “we learned more
about the Society’s research
program and identified our
specific interest in restoring lost
function through the NOW:
An MS Research Revolution
initiative. It was the opportunity
we had been looking for.” In
September 2011, Eleanore and
Vaughn made their leadership
gift of $500,000 to the NOW
initiative.
Vaughn is retired from Harley
Davidson, where, as CEO in the
1980s, he led a successful effort to
turn around the then-struggling
company. Today, Vaughn and
Eleanore spend their winters in
Arizona and the rest of the year in
Vaughn is retired from Harley
1980s, he led a successful effort to
Eleanore spend their winters in
COURTESY OF THE BEALS FAMILY
Eleanore and
Vaughn Beals
