A portrait of Walter Egbert Beverly overlooks the grand foyer of the house with the giant white columns on the top of the hill at the end of Canterbury Lane. The expression on his face is one of quiet determination, a man comfortable in his own skin who might make a few well-placed calls to get you a job if you needed one. Beverly, a longtime executive with Travelers Insurance, died at his home of cholangio carcinoma on Nov. 17 and was later buried at the Mattox Family Cemetery in Glade Hill. He was 83.

"Maybe Dad was the person you turned to for advice on how old and authentic an antique was," said son Walter Beverly during the eulogy last weekend at Immanuel Church on the Hill. "Or maybe you were the motor-mouthed extroverted relative in whom Dad recognized a born salesperson. He encouraged you, arranged interviews for you and helped you launch a successful career."

Beverly loved antique furniture, old cars, great hats, warm fires, farmer’s markets, children and dogs. He was well-known for his handiwork in the kitchen, especially coconut cake at Easter and applesauce cakes at Christmas. Although he was the consummate professional at work, he displayed a quirky and irreverent sense of humor at home.

"He had a way of rolling up his eyelids to show red, looking down at you so only the whites showed and walking like Frankenstein to the delight of all my cousins and me at family reunions," said his son. "He made contraptions that made you think a furry animal was coming out to bite you, which surprised and delighted all who saw it."

A NATIVE OF Rocky Mount in Franklin County, Beverly’s father was the editor of the Franklin Gazette, now known as the Franklin News Post. While a high school student, Walter E. Beverly met the woman who would later become his wife in the gymnasium of Franklin County High School. That was at the conclusion of a girls’ basketball game, when Opal Mattox was awarded the All-Star of Franklin County.

"He said, ‘That’s a nice game,’" recalled Opal Mattox Beverly. "And then we just sort of struck up a connection."

The two hit it off and the couple became an item, writing letters to each other after he enrolled at Virginia Military Institute and later during his Navy service in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, the two were married and settled in Richmond after spending their honeymoon at the storied Hotel Roanoke. She worked as the secretary for a corporation court judge, and he enrolled at the T.C. Williams College of Law at the University of Richmond, where he was a member of the McNeill Law Society.

"He was quite the speaker," she said. "When Walter spoke, you could hear a pin drop."

After he received his law degree, Beverly was offered a job at one of Richmond’s most prestigious firms — Hunton and Williams. But the job paid $100 a month, so he turned them down and took a job for a job at Travelers Insurance that paid $150 a month. The Beverlys had a son in Richmond as he slowly worked his way up the corporate ladder, eventually moving to the headquarters in Hartford, Conn., where their daughter was born.

"They had to throw Virginia dirt under the bed," joked Jamie Beverly Waldrop, who now lives with her husband in Roanoke. "My father was a Virginia gentleman, and he didn’t want a Yankee in the family."

TRAVELERS MOVED the family to Florida and Georgia before they finally settled in Alexandria in 1967. The family bought a new house on Canterbury Lane, quiet suburban neighborhood in the center of the city near the Virginia Theological Seminary. They attended Immanuel Church on the Hill and were active in Republican politics — even launching an unsuccessful campaign for City Council in the 1970s.

"The Republican Party in the late 1960s and early 1970s was like a band of brothers, and the Beverlys were part of that," said George Cook, a former Republican member of the Alexandria City Council. "We were just coming into our own."

As a member of the Friendship Firehouse board of directors, Beverly marched in the inaugural parade after the reelection of President Richard Nixon. Beverly eventually launched a private law practice in Alexandria and became active in a number of civic organizations. He was active in Antiques in Alexandria and the Alexandria Assembly. Over the years, he developed a skill for recognizing talent and making connections.

"He got me an interview with Hartford Insurance Company, and that changed my life," said Donna Giardina, a niece who lives in Bethlehem, Pa. "He did that sort of thing for people all the time."

Beverly is survived by his wife of 63 years, Opal Mattox Beverly; a son, Dr. Walter B. Beverly of Lynchburg; a daughter, Jamie Beverly Waldrop of Roanoke; five grandchildren, Walter Bryant Beverly Jr., Andrew Quinn Beverly, Preston Adam Waldrop Jr, Tess Jamison Waldrop, Christopher Bear Waldrop and many adoring nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Children’s National Medical Center or the Antiques in Alexandria Endowment Fund.