Roof collapse victim had spiritual rebirth after stepson’s death
The devastated widow of Millard Bean said her husband experienced a spiritual rebirth after her son’s road death last month.Lorrie Bennett-Bean was yesterday consoled by friends and family at the home she and her husband had lived in near Bailey’s Bay.Mr Bean, a construction worker, fell victim to what is unofficially understood to be a freak accident at the Morgan’s Point base land in Sandys on Tuesday.The two had been married for just over a year.“Since we got married, his whole life just changed for the better,” Ms Bennett-Bean recalled.“He was the type of person to tell you he loved you every morning. He told me that about an hour before the accident.”She said of his death: “When I heard about it, I screamed. I can’t scream any more.”Originally from Smith’s, Mr Bean had “a very big family”.Dana Bean was his 17-year-old daughter from his first marriage and he was stepfather to Torrie Baker, 25, who died in a single-vehicle crash on January 19 in St George’s.“With my son, he gave me 200 percent,” Ms Bennett-Bean said. “My son’s passing definitely changed him spiritually. It brought him into more of a relationship with God.”The two attended the Open Doors Christian Assembly.Pastor Dean Smith, was among those gathered at the Beans’ residence yesterday afternoon.Ms Bennett-Bean was still reeling from the loss of her son when her husband died.“Millard was my stronghold. A very positive person. When I was down, he would tell me Torrie was looking down at me, just to build me up. He kept reminding me of the lives my son changed,” she said.Mr Bean, 47, died less than two weeks from his birthday.A foreman for Island Construction, he specialised in trenching.“They loved him like a son,” Ms Bennett-Bean added. A group from the company paid their respects at the house yesterday.A sports lover and avid reader, Mr Bean was a keen cricketer.He will be remembered as “a good man, very kind-hearted, very tender, understanding, caring — you name it, he was there”, his widow said.“He loved his wife, his daughter, my children — he was very close to all of us.”The couple would have celebrated their second anniversary on July 11.Ms Bennett-Bean, an administrator at the St George’s Club, recently received a VIP award from the Bermuda Department of Tourism in recognition of her hospitality career.“I just got it,” she said. “My husband was jumping up and down, telling me that even in the worst times God is blessing us.”l Read more on Mr Bean’s cricketing career, see our story today in Sport, Page 29
The “freak accident” at Morgan’s Point that claimed the life of construction worker Millard Bean narrowly missed his friend and co-worker.Island Construction boss Zane DeSilva yesterday mourned Mr Bean, who had been with the company for decades.Speaking shortly after a visit to the site where a collapse in part of an old building killed his friend, Mr DeSilva said: “I don’t want to pre-empt any investigation, but it certainly seems like one of those freak accidents. There was a porch on the outside of where they were working and it seems it may have just caved in.”No demolition was underway at the building, he said.An Island Construction team, contracted for asbestos abatement in the old buildings, appeared to have been scraping up old floor tiles.Police reported earlier this week that part of a building’s roof collapsed in an industrial accident around 11.30am.Mr DeSilva said: “It’s just unbelievable. Like a tree falling down when you just happen to walk by. One of his long-time colleagues was walking in front of him. If it had fallen five seconds earlier, it might have got both of them.”Government may have to assess the buildings before work at the West End site can resume, he said. Island Construction was not engaged in demolition, and “a number of different firms were taking care of the asbestos” at the site.Added Mr DeSilva: “Millard and I worked together when I first joined Island Construction in 1989. We started together. We worked in the trenches — literally and we grew very close over the last 20 years. It’s just so shocking; he was a very good friend.”Remembering Mr Bean as a skilled cricketer, Mr DeSilva continued: “Millard always came across as very calm. Obviously he was very competitive as well, through his younger days of being involved in sports. We could skylark and talk trash like anybody, but he generally just didn’t get upset.“He was one of those old type Bermudian people, always well-mannered, soft-spoken.”
