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Mary was born in Little Rock, AR on November 22, 1925 and passed away quietly on November 2, 2019 at Manor Grove Nursing Home in Kirkwood, MO.  Mary was the oldest of three children which included two brothers, James and Thomas.  She graduated from St. Mary’s High School of Little Rock in 1943 and from Charity Hospital’s school of nursing in 1947.  She was a member of the Nurse Cadet Corp an was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone with her brother Dr. Thomas Cenac for two years after her graduation.  While there, she met and married Master Sergeant Irwin Terry Bean.  After Panama they were stationed in California where they had two daughters, Carol and Cheryl.  During that time, Terry was sent  to Japan for eight months and then to Korea for a year.  Mary decided to go home to Arkansas with the two girls in 1954 until Terry finished his tour.  After his return they were stationed in Georgia, England, and Florida.  Mary loved this moving and traveling and always took advantage of seeing any new sites she could wherever they lived. In 1963 Terry retired and they moved to De Soto, MO where they finally had their son Terry Lee. Mary continued to live there after Terry’s death in 1999 until 2003.  From there she moved to Our Lady of Life where she was until 2017.

In 1969 Mary resumed her career in Nursing as the evening nursing supervisor at St. Louis University Hospital.  She also earned her BSN from St. Louis University and graduated in 1973.  In 1975 she began teaching in the nursing program at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, MO and worked as Nursing supervisor at Jefferson Memorial Hospital.  She retired in 1997 but remained active with the Jefferson Memorial Hospice Nurses and the Daughters of Isabella. To her students and fellow nurses and physicians, Mary was known for being tough, fair and knowledgeable.

She was instrumental in starting a new hospice service at Jefferson Memorial Hospital and was active in the Missouri American Nurses Association.  Her favorite hobby became researching genealogy, and in her travels throughout both Europe and the United States she always looked for relatives and family connections.  We remember one trip where she spent three eight hour days in Salt Lake City looking for relatives from the 16th century.

Mary also enjoyed her three children, nine grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. She often agreed to babysitting detail and was known for making all of us eat our vegetables.  She also loved her gardens and music.  As children we remember her singing “Oh Danny Boy” and many other songs while she accompanied herself on the piano.

Mary is survived by her brother Dr. Thomas Cenac, M.D., and his wife Nancy of Tuscon, AZ.  Her eldest daughter Carol Daake and her husband John and their four children and seven grandchildren from Greeley, CO.  Her youngest daughter Cheryl Mudd and her husband John and their three children and two grandchildren from Webster Groves, MO and her son, Terry Bean and his wife Lorie and their two children from De Soto, MO.  Mary approached life with such enthusiasm, always in awe of new places, new people and new things.

God grant you peace Mom!  You are loved and will be missed.