Barbara Ann Beckelman

SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, Guanajuato, Mexico – Barbara Ann Beckelman of blessed memory passed away on Thursday morning, Jan. 5, 2023 in her chosen home of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico with the courage, dignity, and grace that characterized her life on earth. Before 2022, Barbara and her beloved partner of 41 years, Susan L. Koen, Ph.D., were decades-long residents of Portland, Maine and Great Pond in Rome, Maine. Barbara had a genetic brain disorder known as bvFTD with an accompanying movement disorder that impaired her swallowing and precipitated her death.

Barbara was born in 1951 in El Paso Texas, the second child of U.S Air Force Reserve Captain Robert A. Beckelman and Peggy Hoffman Beckelman. She lived most of her life before college in Yardley, Pa. where her family moved in 1953 when her father joined his father-in-law and brother-in-law in the family business, J. Chein & Co., a renowned manufacturer of colorful lithographed tin toys that are collector’s items today.

Barbara was a proud graduate in the Class of 1969 of The George School, a Quaker high school in Newtown, Pa. where she made many lifelong friends. She also attended Simmons College in Boston, where she graduated in 1973 with a double major in English and French. Her language skills served her well throughout her life, including in her role as an Artist’s Agent for illustrators of trade books and textbooks, as well as in her role as VP, Sales & Marketing and eventually Chief Operating Officer for the organizational consulting and training company, Round-The-Clock Resources, Inc., which she co-owned with Dr. Koen. Their company improved the safety, health, and performance reliability of frontline employees in countless shiftwork operations across the globe.

Barbara had an exquisite, resonant voice which she graciously shared with many as a founding member of Referendum, an LGBTQ+ quintet in Portland, Maine, and as a member of the Vox Nova Chamber Choir in Brunswick, the women’s singing groups Full Circle and Zemya, and the hospice choir Evenlight, in affiliation with CHANS Home Health and Hospice of Brunswick. Barbara was also an integral and much-loved part of The Western Wind community, attending summer ensemble singing workshops conducted by the renowned, New York City-based Western Wind Vocal Ensemble from 1998 through 2017.

What cannot be captured by informational details is that Barbara had many talents and a special spirit. She was a competitive swimmer, a strong tennis player, and a fabulous cook. She had a sophisticated aesthetic in the way she dressed and in the beautiful items she knit. Orange was her favorite color, and she could pull it off like nobody else. Barbara was also an ardent feminist with deeply-held morals, a rich authenticity and passion for speaking truth, and a strong commitment to making a difference with her time and resources. She brightened the lives of everyone who met her with her welcoming eyes and captivating smile, and with her genuine desire to know each of us as a person who mattered in the world. Unique, irreplaceable, and always styling—that was Barbara.

She is survived by her spouse, Susan L Koen, of San Miguel de Allende and New Orleans, La.; her older brother, John Beckelman (Marsha) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, her sister-in-law, Mary Koen (Marie-Andree Gervais), her sister-in-law Martha Koen, her sister-in-law, Linda Beckelman; her nephew Tyler Beckelman (Anne Shaw); her nephew Scott Beckelman (Lauren), her niece Lindsey Beckelman; her great-nieces Clara Shaw-Beckelman, Elsie Beckelman, and Sabrina Beckelman; her great-nephew Reid Shaw-Beckelman; and many cousins and friends/chosen-family whom she loved dearly. She was predeceased by her parents, her beloved uncles and aunts, June and Jacques Guicharnaud, and Marion and Irving Sachs, her cousin Richard Sachs, and her much-loved and missed younger brother, Mark Beckelman, may their memories be a blessing.

A memorial service will be held in Portland, Maine on May 20, 2023 in a location and time to be announced next month.

Condolences can be sent to Susan Koen at 220 N. Zapata Hwy #11, PMB# 41B, Laredo, TX 78043-4464.

For those with the means, contributions can be made

in Barbara’s name to:

Equality Community Center LLC of Portland, Maine for their capital campaign, and/or the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama for their Voting Rights and/or Hate and Extremism Initiatives.