Mary Lester Beall

1927 - 2016

AMHERST - Mary Lester Beall, who passed away Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, was born in 1927 in Baltimore, Maryland. When the Great Depression forced her father to close his home construction business, she and her family returned to their roots in of Saratoga Springs, New York. Her father Dudley Gove Lester ran the Saratoga Vichy Company for many years and Mary grew up along side her beloved sister Nancy.

In 1955 a mutual friend arranged for Mary to meet an eligible bachelor named Harry Beall for dinner in New York City. After a six-week courtship, they were engaged, soon married and spent the next 58 years together. Harry was the love of her life.

Mary's professional career started after she received a masters in library science, as the personal librarian for Charles Houghton, the founder of Steuben Glass. She also worked at the New York Public Library. After a decade or two spent being a mother, Mary became the program director at the Englewood, New Jersey, Public Library.

Her greatest joy came from being a consummate wife, friend and mother. Her beloved Harry spent 35 years in the business of classical music. They spent several years split between winters in Boston and summers at Tanglewood in Lenox, while Harry was the press director for the Boston Symphony. In the mid 1960's, when Harry returned from a day trip to New York, with an attractive job offer, he said to Mary, "Do you want to move back to NYC?" to which she replied, "Give me 20 minutes" Mary always knew what she wanted.

From the mid 60's, until Harry's retirement in 1992, Mary supported her husband, as he looked after classical musicians including Lily Pons, Clifford Curzon, Gary Graffman, Jessye Norman and the Guarneri String Quartet, who he managed for 35 years.

They retired to Western Massachusetts in 1992, when they bought a restored church, on top of a hill, in Shutesbury on a whim and spent the last 25 years together making new friends in Western Massachusetts.

Mary was never whole again, after she lost Harry in April of 2015. This week would have been their 60th wedding anniversary and who's to say that they might not be celebrating together again now.

She is survived by her son Martin and his wife Jane of Midlothian, Virginia; her son Andy and his wife Hut of Pelham; and three beloved grandchildren, Chris and his wife Caitlin and Alex and Charlie.

Mary had many happy summers at Camp Runoia in Maine with her sister Nancy, cousins and friends. The camp helped form Mary into the person we all loved. She would break into the Camp Runoia's theme song at the slightest provocation, so anyone so inclined might send a donation to Camp Runoia, C/O Jody Sataloff, 9 Birch Knolls, Cape Elizabeth, ME.

Mary will be interned in the columbarium at Grace Church in Amherst, next to Harry, at a date yet to be determined by the family.

Memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com.

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