Remembering Dottie Bean - January 06, 1937 - August 20, 2021

One of our community's most devoted community servants, Dottie Bean, has passed away after a period of illness. 

Dottie and I shared a love for some of the same organizations in town, so we were able to work together many times.

I've pulled together some of my photos of Dottie and a video I created where she talks about community service. I'm also including Dottie's obituary in this post.

 I hope you will take time to remember Dottie and all she did; better yet I hope you will follow her example and commit time and energy to the community as Dottie did.

 Kyle Leach, Curator
Farmington NH Historical Society
Museum of Farmington History

 

Dottie with Sylvia Arcouette at the 2015 Woman's Club Chilli Chowder Cookoff

Dottie's obituary reads:

FARMINGTON, NH

Dorothy A. Bean, 84, of Farmington passed away on August 20, 2021 after a period of declining health.

 Dottie was born in Orange, NJ on January 6, 1937 to the late Joseph and Donna (Otey) Bean and spent her childhood in New Jersey. After her father retired, the family moved to Farmington, NH where Dottie’s grandfather owned a 340 acre farm. Dottie graduated from Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in biology. 

After graduation, she worked as a research supervisor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston under a grant administered by Harvard University. In 1970, she accepted a position with Tufts University at New England Medical Center in Boston, now Tufts Medical Center. 

Because of her parents' failing health, Dottie moved back to her family’s Farmington home in 1990 and resigned from Tufts in 1991. Since the death of her parents, Dottie has taken care of the farm’s buildings and property. During her custodianship, she developed an abiding concern for forest preservation and farming.

Congregational Church Celebrating 200 years 1819-2019

While living in Farmington, Dottie was an active member and avid supporter of many area organizations, including the NH Farm Museum, where she was the membership registrar; NH Historical Society; Farmington Historical Society, where she had served as president and headed a committee to publish a book on the town’s history; Farmington Woman’s Club; Goodwin Library, where she had served as a trustee; NH Preservation Alliance; Currier Museum of Art; Wright Museum and the First Congregational Church of Farmington, where she was active in the Women’s Fellowship and was one of the founding members of Blessed Bargains thrift shop. She also worked at the voting polls during each town election for many years and in 1995, she was named Puddledock Press Person of the Year. Dottie was an enthusiastic supporter of the Boy Scouts, Moose Mountains Regional Greenways and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, where she was passionate about conserving the land. 

Dottie aiding the Farmington Historical Society

Her deep appreciation of history and land converged on her own property, where she worked tirelessly for more than 30 years on the restoration and improvement of her historic home and land. Her conviction in the importance of farming and her belief in the need to preserve and protect undeveloped land led Dottie to establish the Joseph D. ‘26, Donna M. and Dorothy A. Bean Endowed Fund at the University of New Hampshire. She established this fund in honor of her father who graduated from UNH in 1926. This fund will provide need-based scholarship support for students enrolled in the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture and will also provide general support for COLSA faculty members.

There will be a graveside service at Pine Grove Cemetery in Farmington, NH on Sunday, September 12 at 1:00 PM. If you wish to honor Dottie’s memory with a donation, please direct it to the charity of your choice or to the UNH Foundation with Bean Endowed Fund in the memo, University of NH, 9 Edgewood Road, Durham, NH 03824.

 Cremation care by Peaslee Funeral Home. To express condolences, please visit: www.peasleefuneralhome.com

 

Dottie with other members of the Farmington Woman's Club

In 2015, Dottie talked about the importance of community and community service in a video produced for the Tri Town Democrats Honors Dinner, in which Dottie was honored with the Award for Farmington Community Service.



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