Thomas W. Bean III

Thomas W. Bean III, 73, of 46 Nimrod Drive, Concord, MA,  lost his battle with a high grade metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor on Sunday, November 24, 2019. He took his last breath in the peace of his long-term home, surrounded by his family. Thomas was the oldest of 3 siblings born to Thomas W. Bean, Jr. and Helen Lombard Bean in Greenfield, MA, during September 1946 on his lucky day, Friday the 13th. He grew up in the Brookside Ave neighborhood with his brother John Bean (deceased) and his sister Judy Gemma. He had many fond memories of playing baseball and camping with the neighborhood children, most of whom were, like Tom, the offspring of WWII veterans.  After a challenging time in high school that included a second senior year, Thomas joined the Army during the Vietnam war; a decision that he felt made him grow in the man he became. He was trained in radio operations, was given a top secret clearance, and spent most of his service in Germany.  His Army career lasted from 1965 to 1968 ending with an honorable discharge.  Following his discharge, Thomas attended Greenfield Community College (GCC), where he met Ellen Parody, who became his wife of nearly 50 years. After his success at the local community college, Thomas pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering at The University of Massachusetts at Amherst and graduated Magna Cum Laude. He began his career designing nuclear power plants with Stone & Webster in Boston, MA. Concerns over nuclear power resulted in his leaving S & W and  he eventually went on to work for the Town of Greenfield, MA before moving onto a 26 year career with England Telephone Company (later to become Verizon). During his employment at the phone company, he attended Northeastern University and received a Master’s degree in Civil/Structural Engineering.  He was instrumental in having Verizon audition Plug Power fuel cells as an alternative to batteries. His career at Verizon culminated in working on their Energy team that earned them the federal Energy Star Award for Corporate Commitment and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Protection award. While working at Verizon, he also was selected to participate in the ‘Loaned Executive’ program to act as a fundraising volunteer for the United Way. In 2002, while still working at Verizon, he was one of the early recipients of GCC’s Distinguished Alumni Awards. Upon retiring from Verizon, Thomas worked several jobs for the Federal Government including the one he is most proud: Supervising Site Engineer for BRACC 133, a multi-billion dollar department of defence building outside of Washington DC.  Tom was full of passion and life. He seized every opportunity to spend quality time with his family. Over the years he indulged in many hobbies, which include traveling, geocaching, house projects, problem solving, helping others with their projects, ancestry research, basketball, biking and reacting to the the the political environment.. He never turned down a delicious meal or a glass of wine. He could often be found tinkering with various objects, such as drones, his crossbow, rockets, and LED lights. He and Ellen enjoyed biking rail trails around New England and planned to expand their biking to various areas within the United States until his cancer diagnosis halted those plans. His truly genuine smile will be missed immensely by his family and friends. Among his survivors are his devoted wife of 48 years and his loving children, Adam David Bean of Littleton, MA, for whom he was a boy scout leader and a little league coach and Alexis Jordan Moles of Portsmouth, NH, with whom he attended karate classes and acted in two plays, and their spouses Marcela Bean and Alex Moles.  He also leaves behind his three grandchildren, Vincent and Henry Bean and Daisy Moles, his sister in Hopkinton, MA, his sister-in-law in Philadelphia, PA and eight nieces and nephews. Special mention is made of stepmother Gloria Bean Applegate of Bradenton, FL. Services in celebration of Tom’s life will be observed at the Gill Congregational Church, 6 Center Rd., Gill,  at 2 pm on November 30th, 2019 with a reception to follow in the fellowship hall of the church. Pastor Gary Bourbeau will be officiating. Expressions of affection in the form of charitable contributions in Tom’s memory are suggested to be made to The Friends of Nashoba Nursing Service & Hospice at www.nashoba.org​ or The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation at ​www.netrf.org/​.  

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