Photos will certainly help, but it does sound like the Beech was affected by a late frost or freeze.
We're in the same boat in WNY - the sudden early Spring warm-up in late March/early April caused early bud break, then frosts set in as usual later on in April and into early May, causing damage to the tender foliage which stunts growth during the late Spring. One of my Swamp White Oaks was hit pretty hard, but it's just starting to send out a lot of new shoots and foliage, so it's bouncing back from the frost/freeze from earlier in the season.
If your Beech tree is healthy otherwise, it will grow new foliage from secondary buds during the Summer. Frosts typically don't cause any long term damage, the Beech should be fine if frost was the culprit. The other possibility is disease, but it's all a guessing game until photos are posted.
