Beloved Beatrice Glacken left this world on September 26 at Tobey Hospital. She was 88 years old.
Bea was born on December 8 in New Bedford to Thomas Payne and Marie Claudina Beatrice Veronneau. She was sister to both the late Bill and Tom Payne and aunt to the late David Payne. Bea is survived by her nephew, Kevin Payne of Alameda, CA and her two “chosen” daughters, Kathy Macomber of Onset and Julie Rickard of Fayetteville, Arkansas. She is sorely missed by them and by her “friend family” in Molena Georgia and here in the Wareham area.
Bea spent her young adult years in New York City and later in San Francisco, CA. Most of her work life was spent serving in restaurants and later, in hospitals. Bea traveled in many states and several countries at a time when few women in her social class did so. She married Irishman, Patrick Glacken, residing in Ireland for a time after his death. She later met partner Kelly Gay in CA and moved to rural Georgia. In 1993, she returned to her beloved coastal Massachusetts.
Bea became an active volunteer at Tobey Hospital where she served for 17 years. She was a member of the cardiac rehab group there for the last nine years and could be seen riding her bike around her neighborhood, Mogan Park, until about a year ago.
If you had the good fortune to know Bea Glacken, you know how extraordinary she was. When she turned her blue eyes on you, you felt special, blessed by her magical attention. Bea was ready with a good joke, a jar of her homemade jam, a bar of her infamous fudge, or a well-crafted poem, depending on the occasion. Bea was a prolific poet who wrote until only a few weeks prior to her death. Bea’s poetry celebrated her own life and the lives of those she befriended. She published her first chapbook “POEMS” in 2007 followed by “ECHOES AND REFLECTIONS” in 2011. Her two final books will be printed posthumously.
Bea’s passion for life and her ability to share it profoundly touched many in our community. If you are among these, her final wish was for you to raise a glass in celebration of her life. Her memorial is private.
May Bea’s powerful words and example of how to live a full, joyous life, along with our sweet memories keep her sparkling spirit vibrant. May we carry on with her humor and boundless generosity. O, how we miss you., dear Bea. How thankful we are to have known and been toved by you.
From “POEMS”, #44
Child-river that leans and tosses
through this old forest
The trees reflect the bouncing sun
that rides within you,
and rustle and bend
to watch you in your youth.
These brown trunks that long ago
stretched thin, inquisitive roots
through this earth,
still feel the thrill
of young life and growth.
As I walk through
this bowl of unclaimed beauty
I hear within me echoes of forests
that will begin and grow
through my own earth- covered body.
Then , I, too will become
part of this soft mystery.
-Beatrice Glacken,