Sister Floretta Beam of Blauvelt dies at 101
By Bob Baird • Journal News Columnist • November 12, 2009
Joe Beam, who came east this week for his aunt’s funeral, remembers her as the quickest person he’s ever known, in terms of both physical and mental acuity.
“She was quick about everything, from making a decision to getting out of a car,” Beam says. She wasn’t content to waste her own time or anyone else’s, he says.
As a result, Sister Floretta Beam jammed much enjoyment and much accomplishment into her 101 years of life.
For her last 83 years, Beam was a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, entering at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in New York City in 1926. Pius XI was pope and Calvin Coolidge president.
Like many of the Dominican Sisters then and now, Beam prepared for a career in education. She held a degree in education from Manhattan College and a master’s degree in sacred science from St. Bonaventure University. She also earned two master’s degrees in educational administration from Teachers College of Columbia University. She also earned eight permanent teaching or administrative certificates.
She spent more than 60 years engaged in the education of young people and, in particular, the blind.
She taught at Holy Cross School in Manhattan, and St. Nicholas of Tolentine and St. Benedict’s in the Bronx.
Except for a stint as principal of Our Lady of Victory School in the Bronx, Beam served from 1941 to 1989 as a teacher, principal and, for 23 years, superintendent of the Lavelle School for the Blind.
The Bronx school traces its roots to 1904 and the work of Margaret Coffey, who was visually impaired, with four blind girls in Manhattan. With Coffey appealing for help, New York’s Vicar General Monsignor Lavelle in 1912 called upon the Blauvelt Dominicans to take on administration of the school. In 1942 the school was recognized for the quality of its education and designated a private, state-supported school. Dominicans no longer work there, as Beam did for decades, but sisters still serve on the board of trustees.
When her administrative years at Lavelle ended, Beam retired to the convent there, returning in 1996 to the St. Martin de Porres Infirmary in Blauvelt, where she lived until her death Saturday.
It’s been a difficult week for the sisters, who lost three members in just four days. Sister Marie Denise Rohan, and Sister John Marie Corrigan, both 90, died Friday and Monday. Amid the loss, tempered by faith in rebirth to a new life, the sisters also marked the Silver Jubilee of Sister Terry Rickard, who works with RENEW International, which fosters spiritual renewal around the world.
Joe Beam grew up on Long Island and remembers his childhood days when any outing meant the family would first congregate at Lavelle. He’s lived in California for 40 years, he says, adding that his aunt enjoyed visiting with other sisters. “She enjoyed nature in the comfortable environment there,” and in the Berkshires. Joe Beam says his son Jim put it best for himself and six other grand-nephews and grand-nieces: “She was always a fun person to be around and she was always a beacon for the family.”
As they had for her 100th birthday celebration in June 2008, staff from Lavelle School came to pay their respects Tuesday at the convent, as did several of her former students.
According to Sister Diane Forrest, one of them, a gentleman named Paul, knelt at Beam’s casket and broke into tears. As if speaking for all the students whose lives she touched, he just whispered softly, “Thank you.”
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Beam, Sister Floretta [MC???? RIP]
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