ELLSWORTH – A well-known merchant whose family business has served as an anchor for the city’s downtown district died Tuesday at a Bangor hospital. Sheldon “Ted” Beal, proprietor of Beal’s Jewelry Store Inc., was 77.

Friends remembered him as a longtime volunteer firefighter, a devoted family man and a dedicated businessman who cared about his hometown.

“The Beal name has been synonymous with downtown Ellsworth for almost 80 years,” said Ruth Foster, who runs a children’s clothing store next door to the jewelry shop. “Teddy Beal was of the old school – love of family, love of friends, love of community and love of country. That was his whole life.”

Beal’s father, Herbert, opened the Main Street store in 1926. The shop sold just jewelry at first, but expanded over the years to include gifts, clothing and high-end chocolates.

Ted and his wife, Norma, operated the store together for the past 58 years. With a son and grandson joining them at work, four generations of the family have helped to make the business one of the city’s oldest and most successful.

Beal graduated from Ellsworth High School and served in the U.S. Navy as an aerial photographer. He was a volunteer firefighter with the Ellsworth Fire Department for more than 30 years and secretary-treasurer of the department’s Senator Hale Hose Company.

He retired from firefighting in 1984 but remained a strong supporter of the organization, according to Fire Chief Bob McKenney.

“The fire department was a very important part of Ted’s life,” McKenney said. “I always thought Ted was a very caring and giving person.”

Micki Sumpter, executive director of the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce, said she often went to Beal for historical information about the business community. He cared about his family, his friends and about what the future had in store for his beloved hometown, she said.

“We often had long discussions about what should happen in Ellsworth, what changes should happen,” she said.

Earl Ashmore, who owns Ashmore Bros. garage in Ellsworth, knew Beal since high school. On Wednesday, he recalled the frequent late-night tennis matches they shared at Roger Willey’s tennis courts.

“We had a lot of fun at it,” he said from his second home in Nokomis, Fla. “He was about as good a player as I was.”

Ashmore said he recently visited the Main Street jewelry store and Beal seemed to be in good health.

“It’s a damned shame,” he said. “I’ve known Teddy all my life. [His death] is the last thing I expected.”

A funeral service will be held at noon Friday at the Jordan-Fernald Funeral Home on Franklin Street in Ellsworth.