LINCOLN and BURLINGTON – Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, July 1, for Arline C. Bean at the Clay Funeral Home, 7 Lee Rd., Lincoln. Rev. Ronald Bean will officiate. After the interment, all are invited to a time of food and fellowship at the Burlington Bible Church, Burlington. Arline Catherine (Wright) Bean, formerly of Lincoln, passed peacefully into her heavenly home with her Lord and Savior Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006, at her daughter’s home in Texas. The oldest of five children, she was born Dec. 15, 1923, in Braintree, Mass. She lived in Pittsfield, until she finished grade school, at such time she moved to Freeport, to complete her high school education. She graduated from Freeport High School in 1941. She also worked at the Freeport Shoe Co. She married Ellis R. Bean March 3, 1946, in Washington, D.C. and was a devoted wife, mother and wonderful cook. They were married until his death in 1990. During World War II, her father put her on a train for Washington, D.C. to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was there that she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. She still corresponded with some of the surviving “government girls.” She met her husband, Ellis, on a train bound for Washington, D.C. when he was a handsome soldier on his way to Germany. After their marriage, they moved to Lincoln. Over the years she was employed by Lincoln Trust Co., Buck Motors, Lincoln News and Tibbetts Fuel. After the death of her husband, she moved to Burlington, to be with her daughter, Bonnie and special son, Tim. She enjoyed 13 wonderful years with them. After her health declined, she moved to Texas to live with daughter, Maureen and family. Her son-in-law, Rod, made a lovely comfortable apartment for her where her many new friends gathered daily to laugh, chat, tell stories, watch old movies, sing and play games. She loved her new home. Her abiding faith in God and gentle smile were an inspiration to all who knew her. These past nearly three years were filled with love, laughter and singing with family and friends. She will be especially missed by her loving caregivers, Sarah Buses, Kathleen Yoss, Linda and Mike Barnett. Mike was like a son to her, sitting for hours singing to her, telling her funny stories and playing beautiful music on a keyboard beside her bed. She was a charter member of the First Bible Baptist Church of Lincoln, serving in many capacities. In her later years, she faithfully attended the Burlington Bible Church. In Texas she was loved by the folks at Cornerstone Bible Church. She was predeceased by her parents, Diamond Dwight Wright and Mary Catherine (Croud) Wright; brother, Dwight Wright; sister, Annie June (Wright) Shaw; and special son, Tim Kirkpatrick. She is survived by brother, Frank Wright and his wife, Margaret, of Durham; sister, Ruth Lentine of Burnt Hills, N.Y.; aunt, Rita Gordon of Freeport; sisters-in-law, Gladys Bean of Bangor, Vivian (Bean) Thornton of Lincoln; and many nieces and nephews; son, Ronald and his wife, Nancy Bean, of Woodbridge, Va.; daughters, Bonnie Bean of Burlington and Maureen and her husband, Rod Melton, of Blue Ridge, Texas; grandchildren, Stephen and David Bean of Woodbridge, Va., Heather, Reid and Neil Melton of Blue Ridge, Texas; along with a host of family and friends who mourn her passing and will miss her cooking. Visiting hours are 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Friday, June 30, at the Clay Funeral Home, 7 Lee Rd., Lincoln. Interment will be at Lincoln Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the memorial fund of the First Bible Baptist Church of Lincoln. “When by His grace I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me.”
ARLINE C. BEAN
