Ralph Bean, Jr.

Ralph Bean, Jr. died on October 12 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was born on March 17, 1941, to Ralph and Carrie Muntzing Bean of Moorefield, WV. He was educated in the Moorefield public schools and earned Bachelor’s and Law degrees from West Virginia University and an LLM from Harvard University. Ralph began his corporate legal career with C & P Telephone Company in Washington, DC and then in Charleston, WV. While in Charleston, he also served as Elections Chief to then W.Va. Secretary of State Jay Rockefeller. In 1974 Ralph came to North Central West Virginia as counsel to the Consolidated Natural Gas Company. There he rose to General Counsel and then President of Hope Gas. After an early retirement from Hope Gas, he became a partner at Steptoe & Johnson law firm. Ralph’s volunteer energy was devoted to West Virginia’s economic development. He served in leadership positions in many organizations, including the West Virginia Council for Community and Economic Development, the WV Business Roundtable, the Discover the Real West Virginia Foundation, the I-79 Development Council, and the Blanchettte Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute before it became part of WVU Medicine. Ralph also served many years as a trustee of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. He was proud of the many programs and projects the Foundation funded in West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. Always loyal to his alma mater, Ralph served 17 years on the WVU Foundation Board of Directors. In 1992 WVU named him The Most Loyal West Virginian. The following year, he was inducted into the Order of Vandalia for extraordinary service to WVU. Ralph was preceded in death by his parents, his in-laws Virginia and Woodrow Cook, his sister Ada Kay Cleaver, his brothers Howard and William, and his brother-in-law Jean Chagnon. Ralph is survived by his wife of 63 years Barbara, his children Katherine Carney (Carl) of Fredericksburg, VA; Jennifer (John O’Neal) of Seattle, WA; Stephanie of Bridgeport; and Ralph J III (Melissa Kelsey) of Rochester, NY. Also surviving are his grandchildren Alex Carney, Eli and Juniper Kelsey-Bean; his brother Oscar (Dixie), and his sister-in-law Cindy Chagnon. The family has entrusted the arrangements to the Ford Funeral Home, Allen Chapel, 215 East Main Street, Bridgeport, WV 26330. Friends will be received in the funeral home on Friday, Oct. 23, from 5-8 p.m. Visitation will continue on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. at the Bridgeport Presbyterian Church, 1 John Calvin Drive, Bridgeport, WV 26330. A Celebration of Life service will be held in the church on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. with Reverend Steve Elderbrock officiating. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.fordfuneralhomes.com. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, WVU Foundation, P.O. Box 1650, Morgantown, WV 26507-1650.