{"id":2943,"date":"2022-08-31T01:40:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T01:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=2943"},"modified":"2022-08-08T21:02:38","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T21:02:38","slug":"a-long-lifetime-of-blessings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=2943","title":{"rendered":"A Long Lifetime of Blessings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Duward Bean (wearing a suit, front row, third from left) is pictured in the 1948 SIU Obelisk holding the landlord\u2019s middle child.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"By Rebecca Renshaw<\/p>\n

Duward Bean\u2019s personal narrative over the past nine decades offers a touching portrait of the American dream. SIU played a big part in his story of accomplishment, generosity and determination. Born in Anna to a farming family, Bean knew that hard work was going to be his personal key to achieving success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked and put my way through college. I washed dishes to pay for school and babysat my landlord\u2019s children in exchange for a bed. I worked hard for my education, but I loved my time at SIU,\u201d Bean said.<\/p>\n

Bean shared that his experiences at SIU taught him a great deal about people. \u201cComing from a small town like Anna, I had never been exposed to people who talked, thought, and looked differently than myself. I met all types of people from other cultures and it was a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe part of my success comes from my outlook on life that I formed at SIU. I have always tried to fit in with people wherever I was. And, I have always looked at life through a positive lens. I think that is why I got along well in my career,\u201d Bean said.<\/p>\n

Bean received a degree in business from SIU in 1952 and began an insurance career with Country Companies in Pinkneyville. He was quickly promoted to an agency manager and moved to Benton where he spent his professional career.<\/p>\n

During his time in Benton, Bean developed a close friendship with SIU\u2019s legendary basketball coach, Rich Herrin.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore Rich came to SIU, he served as Benton\u2019s high school basketball coach, so we were both established members in the Benton community. I helped him out during that time, and when he went on to coach at SIU, Rich did not forget me. In fact, one year when he took the Salukis to the NCAA tournament, Rich called me up and invited me to fly with the team. He was a great friend and a giving person,\u201d said Bean.<\/p>\n

Bean recalls that his favorite memories of SIU revolved around his membership in Nu Epsilon Alpha fraternity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had about 20 guys in the fraternity and our house was called The Manor.\u00a0 My roommate was John S. Rendeman who was also from Anna, so we had a lot in common. The best part about living there was that I often had to go babysit at my landlord\u2019s house where I could watch television. That was a treat in 1952 considering very few people even had televisions back in those days,\u201d said Bean.<\/p>\n

Bean attributes his longevity to clean living and taking good care of his health.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides Country Companies, I also owned farm land and I watched other farmers around me die early. So, I stopped eating meat several decades back and I stay physically fit. In fact, I still walk three miles a day. I think that\u2019s what has kept me around for so long,\u201d said Bean.<\/p>\n

Bean is passionate about helping others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been blessed, so I have always tried to give back to my church and my community. When Rich Herrin passed away at the end of 2020, it reminded me of SIU and the good people and friendships I made there. I haven\u2019t been back to SIU since those days with Rich Herrin, so my plan is to present my donation to the College of Business and Analytics during homecoming. I\u2019m looking forward to coming home again.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out how you can contribute to the SIU College of Business and Analytics, visit foreversiu.org\/business<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rebecca Renshaw Duward Bean\u2019s personal narrative over the past nine decades offers a touching portrait of the American dream. SIU played a big part in his story of accomplishment, generosity and determination. Born in Anna to a farming family, Bean knew that hard work was going to be his personal key to achieving success. … Continue reading A Long Lifetime of Blessings<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2943"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2946,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions\/2946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}