After his April, 1965, retirement from his beloved Braniff Airways, Charles Beard remained active in the Dallas business community with his various board memberships and civic activities. On May 12, 1982, the day Braniff International ceased operations, he suffered a major heart attack. He died on July 18, 1982, and was buried with his first wife, Rose E. Beard, who died of cancer in 1963. He had two children with her: a son, Rev. Robert D. Beard, and a daughter Barbara Rose Magee. After her death he married Doris Stewart Beard in 1964.
