Thursday, August 6 in the care of Sherbrooke Community Center’s Veterans Village and in the company of members of his loving family, Duncan Stuart (Stu) McBean peacefully drew his last breaths. Just weeks before his 99th birthday, Stu’s remarkable run of full life, good health and fitness had faded, limiting his physical and mental capacities but never diminishing his gentle character, dry self-deprecating humour nor the ability to see the best in every situation, even the final stages of his own life journey.
Stu was born in Saskatoon on September 22, 1916 into the family of Archie and Euphemia (Jen) McBean. Sandwiched between his brothers Don and Bill with sister Dorothy following not far behind, he revelled in a rich childhood in his domain of City Park neighbourhood, attending Wilson and City Park Schools, working at his father’s two downtown Drug Stores, spending summers at the cabin at Wakaw Lake and developing his considerable athletic ability at the YMCA. Choosing a different path than his brothers who continued the Saskatoon McBean pharmacies for another generation, Stu entered the University of Saskatchewan in the College of Agriculture, graduating in 1938 with a specialty in cereal genetics and securing employment at the Experimental Farm (later the Dominion Research Station) in Swift Current. At the outbreak of the war, Stu chose his own path again, enlisting in the Navy. He became a sonar operator, serving on a number of Corvettes escorting the convoys of the North Atlantic lifeline to England. When he returned to his work he caught the eye of the now grown up boss’s daughter and in June 1949 married Lillian Rose Thomson. In the following years Stu completed post graduate work at the Universities of Manitoba and Alberta all the while bringing to the world and raising his and Lillian’s four children.
During 4 decades, Stu was an integral member of the team of agrologists who brought many new cereals to production, developing solid stem sawfly resistant wheats and becoming the expert of the cereal “Rye”, penning its entry into the Canadian Encyclopedia. During his career, especially in the later years when he, Lillian and Duncan moved to Zambia for several years, Stu directed his work toward sustainable cereal production in Africa.
However, greater than any professional accomplishment was his limitless capacity for calm and reason and good humour to assuage all situations. To his family and friends, Stu was always to be counted upon for considered consultation and humbly offered assistance. Without fanfare, he assumed responsibilities in a wide variety of programs from the Junior Band, to Lions and Kiwanis clubs and the Cypress Hills Cottage Owners Association, skillfully navigating the vagaries of personalities, quietly influencing all those with whom he entered into contact through his sincere effort and endless patience. His reading and thinking were wide-reaching, though it is only in later years that his children discovered notes and writings giving evidence of his quest for deep understanding of the human condition. He would not impose his thinking on others, but would listen, absorb and elicit reflection that always profoundly best served the speaker. No matter the circumstance, Stu would always have a witty word and a twinkle in his eye to make everyone feel good about themselves and the world.
A summary of Stu’s life would be incomplete without recognising the wonderful decades of retirement. Stu and Lillian flourished travelling the world with family and friends, volunteering in all manners in Swift Current during the winters and, as 3 season residents of Cypress Hills Park, relishing in its peace and beauty, receiving and entertaining friends, children and grandchildren.
Stu is survived by his sister Dorothy Cram (Saskatoon), brother-in- law Greg Greenough (Edmonton), and his 4 children, Brenda (Halifax), Bob (Edmonton), Don (Saskatoon) and Duncan (Vancouver), their spouses and 11 grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife Lillian in 2014, a brother Kenneth who died in childbirth in 1915, brothers Bill in 1984 and Don in 1995 and his parents Jen in 1953 and Archie in 1968. The McBean family proclaims a boundless appreciation to the staff of Sherbrooke Community Center, in particular the caregivers and program staff of Veteran’s Village and House 10, as well as the staff at the Bentley Retirement Residence in Swift Current for the exceptional care provided in the last years of Stu’s life. Donations to the Sherbrooke Foundation of the Sherbrooke Community Center are welcomed. Cremation has taken place through the services of Mourning Glory Funeral Services in Saskatoon. A Celebration of Life reception will be held in the gymnasium of the First United Church in Swift Current on Saturday, September 12 at 1:00.