Franklin Beaird, a retired athletic director at Baltimore's former Southern High School and a decorated World War II veteran, died of respiratory failure Monday at Seasons Hospice. He was 91 and lived in Ashburton.

Born in New Salem, Pa., he was the son of Isaiah Beaird, a stevedore, and Mary Vesta Lawson Beaird, a worker at Continental Can.

He spent his youth in Fairmont, W.Va., where he graduated from Dunbar High School in 1943. He and his family then moved to Baltimore, and he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

Assigned to the Pacific, he served at the battle for Okinawa and in the Ryukyus campaign. Family members said he transported ammunition from ships to the front lines and returned with the wounded and the dead. He ended his overseas service in China.

Mr. Beaird belonged to a segregated military unit that came to be known as the Montford Point Marines. It took its name from Camp Montford Point in Jacksonville, N.C., where the first African-American Marines in World War II received basic training. He belonged to the Montford Point Marines Association, Maryland Chapter No. 17.

In 2012, he was the recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian award, to reward his service as a Montford Point Marine. He and nearly 400 other survivors were honored with the medal.

In 2013, he served as grand marshal of the Fairmont Veterans Day Parade.

After the war, Mr. Beaird earned a bachelor's degree in physical education at Morgan State University. He was a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity's Gamma Chapter, and was active in alumni affairs. He later earned a master's degree in special education from what is now Coppin State University.

In 1951, he joined the faculty of Harriet Tubman Junior-Senior High School in Howard County, teaching physical education and health.

While there, he met his future wife, Bernice Johnson, a student teacher. They married in 1955.

“My uncle had a love and a passion for improving the lives of the children and young people,” said a nephew, Nathaniel J. Gibson II of Baltimore County. “He enriched their minds and emboldened their spirits, so they could see their true worth and make a difference in their communities. He often said, ‘Let me see you do it.' ”

In addition to teaching, Mr. Beaird coached basketball and track and field.

“His track team had the great honor of participating in the Penn Relays in Philadelphia,” said his nephew.

He later joined Baltimore City public schools and taught at Calverton and Lemmel junior high schools. He was athletic director at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical School, where he also was swimming coach. He retired in 1982 as athletic director at Southern High School, now Digital Harbor High School.

“My uncle saw himself as a role model. He dressed as a professional each day and changed into his athletic outfit once he was at school,” said his nephew.

He and his wife enjoyed traveling the world. They visited Europe, the former Soviet Union, Thailand, Africa and Hawaii.

His nephew said Mr. Beaird was a natural athlete and learned to play golf as an adult.

“He was very good at it. Even in his 80s, he could shoot his age, and it was nothing for him to beat younger players in a round of golf,” Mr. Gibson said. He said his uncle made an annual golf outing to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and was a regular on Baltimore's Clifton, Carroll and Forest Park courses.

“He was a great family man who enjoyed life,” said his nephew.

A neighbor of Baltimore Orioles outfielder Frank Robinson, Mr. Beaird lived on Cedardale Road in Ashburton for many years. He was active in African-American political circles in Northwest Baltimore. He worked alongside state Sen. Clarence Blount and belonged to Mr. Blount's 5&5 political organization. He was a member of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew and served on the vestry.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. James Episcopal Church, 811 Arlington Ave. in Lafayette Square.

In addition to his nephew, survivors include his wife of 61 years, a retired special-education department chair at Highlandtown Middle School; two other nephews, Stephen O. Gibson of Randallstown and Michael C. Gibson Jr. of Baltimore; and a sister-in-law, Mary Frances Demory, whom he treated as a daughter.

jacques.kelly@baltsun.com