Lawrence B. Bean
(1929 - 2013)
Lawrence B. Bean (Larry) who gifted 238 acres of land to the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate to start the Carmel Spirituality Centre at Liberty, Tennessee, USA died on January 21, 2013 at the age of 83 at DeKalb Community Hospital in Smithville. According to his wishes, his body was cremated. A memorial Mass was celebrated by the director of the Centre Fr. Thomas Kalam, CMI on Wednesday, January 30, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Frances Cabrini Church in Lebanon, TN. The CMI priests of the Diocese of Nashville along with others concelebrated. His relatives and friends were present on the occasion.
Larry had been ill for some time and was bedridden, essentially, for more than a year (since he broke his left hip on October 12, 2011). He remained at home; Bonnie, his wife, and co-founder of the Carmel Centre, was his caregiver. Up until the end, arrangements were made for nurses to visit him at home twice a week, and a physical therapist also came twice a week – not on the same days as the nurses. He was on oxygen fulltime. He was unable to stand up at all for the last week while at home; he was barely able to stand before that. He was taken to the hospital by an an ambulance on Sunday night, January 13, when he became very ill at home. They admitted him, and he expired just over a week later. He had that bad MRSA pneumonia, dehydration and other things going on, which overwhelmed him. He put up a very good fight for a such a long time.
He was born in Washington, DC on November 11, 1929. His parents were the late Edwin Temple Bean, Sr. and Mary (a’Becket) Bean. He was also preceded in death by a sister, Mary Osborne. Survivors include his wife, Bonnie (Axley) Bean of Liberty; son, Lawrence B. Bean, Jr. (“Skip”) and wife Jill of Penobscot, ME; daughters, Cynthia Lee Bailey of Rochester, NY, and Pamela (husband Christopher Panfil) of Angola, NY; step-son, Christopher Brunetto of Seminole, FL; step-daughter, Angeline Brunetto Sprague, M.D. and husband Timothy Sprague of Christiana, TN; brothers, Edwin Temple Bean, Jr. (wife Susan) of Buffalo, NY, and Neil Bean (wife Patricia) of Wilmington, NC. He had five grandchildren: Katherine Lee Bailey, Silas Jude Panfil, Becket Alexander Panfil, Kendall Faith Sprague and Ethan Ray Sprague.
Mr. Bean grew up as a young man in East Aurora, NY. He was a veteran of the U. S. Naval ROTC program while at Clarkson College, NY, where he obtained a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering. He was President of Conax Florida Corporation of St. Petersburg, FL, which produces life support systems for the U.S. Navy and Air Force. Mr. Bean was an avid reader and had worked as a Librarian in the Dowelltown and Liberty Library for 15 years. He was a member of St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Lebanon, TN.
Larry who was born Episcopalian became a Catholic mainly inspired by his fevent Catholic wife Bonnie and the good CMI priests they met, starting with Fr. Peter Akkapadickal, CMI. It was Father Cletus Plackal, CMI, who received him to the Catholic Church. The spiritual friendship between Larry and Bonnie and the early CMI's grew stronger and deeper. Larry and Bonnie were present at Kottayam for the beatification of Blessed Chavara. Impressed by the life of the CMI's they met, Larry and Bonnie decided to donate all they had to our Congregation to start a spirituality centre, which would impart the type of spirituality they were privileged to experience from them.
They lived in a cottage on the Carmel Centre property and took care of the running and maintenance of the property, which Bonnie continues to do. According to the agreement they had with the CMI Congregation, we have the obligation to celebrate a Gregorian Mass for Larry.
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February 1, 2013
Dear Rev. Fathers and My Dear Brothers,
Larry Bean, one of our great benefactors in the United States, passed away on January 21, 2013. Kindly find below a detailed obituary prepared by Fr. Thomas, Kalam, the director of our Centre at Liberty in Tennesee. Larry was a close friend of our Congregation and he worked tirelessly with Bonnie to run our Centre at Liberty which they donated to us many years ago. I take this opportunity to acknowledge with gratitude the great committed services of Larry for our Congregation. Let us remember to keep Larry in our daily prayers. I have known Larry for many years and I will miss his beautiful smile and loving friendship. May he rest in peace.
Rev. Fr. Jose Panthaplamthottiyil CMI
CMI Prior General
Prior General's House,
Chavara Hills, Post Box No: 3105,
Kakkanad, Kochi,
Kerala 682 030, India
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