January 01, 2025

I learned today that a very dear friend and mentor of mine, Prof. Dorothy P. Beam, passed away at the age of 90.   She and her husband Richard C. Beam were both professors at Millersville University when I attended there in the 1980s. I first met Mrs. Beam in August of 1983 when I was a freshman. I was looking to continue my piano studies and she took me on as a student. Little did I know then that we would have a friendship that would span the next 41 years. Mrs. Beam was a brilliant pianist. She could have had about any job she wanted as a pianist or teacher. She chose the small state university of Millersville, where she taught for 23 years. I’m glad that she did. As a freshman living away from home for the first time, it was a big adjustment. Mrs. Beam was a kind and compassionate soul and made that transition easier. She was about the most patient and kindest person I have ever met.  No matter how many horrible piano classes with new beginners she had to face, she always did so with grace and patience and offered constant encouragement.  Mrs. Beam faced substantial health issues in the last years of her life. However, in her style, she handled these losses with patience and remained optimistic right up to the end. Mrs. Beam was a godly woman. She was a true lady in every way. I know that I was richly blessed when God brought her into my life those many years ago. And, He also allowed me to bless and help her when she struggled after the death of her husband. For years now, when I sit at the piano to practice or to play I think of her and remember the things that she taught me. I can still hear her voice.  I can see her sitting at the piano and hear the wonderful music she produced. Those memories, as well as the memories of who she was as a human being will remain with me the rest of my life each time I sit down in front of the keyboard.  I am glad that she is now at rest, no longer struggling, and with the Lord.  I can’t wait to see her again on the other side and hear her beautiful music again. Rest in peace my dear friend.
Dr. Robert Carey
Former Student and Friend 

December 21, 2024

I just learned today of Mrs. Beam’s passing.  It was very fortunate for me to be in the first class of music education majors at Millersville and Mrs. Beam was my piano instructor.  She was such an elegant and inspiring woman.  An excellent musician and instructor, she was always encouraging, sensitive and just funny.  I visited her many times during the years and was always welcomed in her home.  May she rest in peace.  Respectfully submitted,  Monica Spadoni Matthews

November 23, 2024

Sadly, I have just learned that Mrs. Beam has passed. She was a delight, and I will miss her.
Mrs. Beam was an important part of my young adulthood, as she was my professor of piano at Millersville University and a dear mentor as I continued to grad school, and beyond. While I attended Millersville, I would laugh everytime Mrs. Beam would answer her phone during my lessons… “BEAM!” she would say, in her sing-song voice. I also have very found memories of her Class Piano I, II, III; the poor non-piano students, trying feverishly to pass.  She would very sweetly say, “That was lovely! Great improvement! You get a 55%”. 
Over the years, she and Herr Beam would attend my musical performances in the Upper Dauphin county. One day when I visited Mrs. Beam, we had a great time going through her performance dresses that she wore during her time at Eastman. When I studied voice and German in Salzburg, Mrs. and Mr. Beam coached me in what to see and do while I was there, and upon my return they were delighted to hear all about my adventures. They had a connection with the schnitz and knepp dinner and the ham and dandelion dinner in the valley where I grew up. They also had a PA Dutch connection with my grandfather, Lut Willier. In the summers, the Beams would love to go out to eat for fresh peach ice cream. When I got married at Simeons Lutheran Church in Gratz, Mrs. and Mr. Beam attended our wedding, and when we had kids, they were both delighted to spend time with all four of us at their home and at the Conestoga Wagon Restaurant. We settled our family in the Philadelphia area as my husband and I taught at Princeton Public Schools. Time passed, and it became more difficult to connect in-person with the Beams. All of us had health challenges. We were geographically separated, but Mrs. Beam was well-loved and cherished by all 4 of us Chorbas.
Mrs. Beam, you have made an imprint on my heart.  You will forever be missed. Thank you for being good to me. Rest in heavenly peace.
-Stephanie Seip Chorba

November 14, 2024

Dorothy was a woman with great memories and many friends,even as she aged in place. She had a sharp memory and would ask after my family and garden routinely. I think she felt she had a wonderful and fulfilling life. She had me write out some things she wanted at her funeral.  She had a connection to her church although she had been unable to attend for some time. 
Jen and Deb, Sorry I couldn’t make the service.  Jane Roda

November 13, 2024

My piano professor from 1971-1975.  She and Herr Beam were delightful people as well as masterful instructors. So blessed that ours lives crossed paths.

November 13, 2024

 
   It has come to my attention that Prof. Dorothy Beam has died.   She served the Music Department at Millersvile U. so well for so many years.
     “Dottie” to us faculty members, she exemplified the art of piano accompaniment time and again, always supporting the soloist of the moment and never insensitive to the desired musical result.  However, it was her solo piano perfoermances which showed us her particular sort of musicianship, and she never disappoinged us.
       Some decades ago she appeared with the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G, and it was the perfect union of music and solo artist!   Her gentle manner in life found her a most sensitive soloist for that marvelous work, and the audience did not miss what had just happened on the stage!  
        Her husband C. Richarfd Beam — “Dick” to all of us — served a few years as local diretor of Millersville’s German-abroad program at Marburg, and Dottie spent three years there with him.   Much later, Dick and I team-taught a special course for the tercentenary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania entitled “Pennsylvania Culture — 1682 – 1982,”  and we did our joint planning at the Beam house, where Dottie was the ever genial hostess to our work sessions.   
     She helped to edit Dick’s dictionary of the Pennsyvlania German language, to this day a pace-setting accomplishment. 
      Unable to attend Dottie’s service this morning, I’ll pause at 10 a.m. this morning, the starting time of her funeral, to thank the Good Lord for Dottie.   Ruhe in Frieden, Dottie.
    Dr. Karl E. Moyer
    Professor of Music Emeritus
    Millersville University 
 

November 10, 2024

Mrs Beam was my piano teacher at Millersville 1971-1975.  She was a consumate professional & treated all her students with respect & encouragement.   She was always a bright spot in my day!!  So thankful for her being part of my life!

November 10, 2024

I was very sad to learn of Dorothy’s passing, but will always remember her (and her beloved husband) with warmth and affection.

November 10, 2024

Dear Dorothy, thank you for being a friend for more than 30 years. You and your husband, C. Richard Beam, will always have a special place in my heart. Grooss Dank fer alles, ass dihr zwee fer mich geduh habt darich die Yaahre sitter 1993 … Michael Werner (Publisher Hiwwe wie Driwwe – The Pennsylvania German Newspaper)

November 10, 2024

I am Jeanne Kendig Hambright  Moore, sending my words for Dorothy from Concord, Massachusetts.  I have called Dorothy for Saturday afternoons for years  since Richard passed.    Along with Dr. Leroy Hopkins, I was a student of Dorothy’s husband, Richard  Beam at Millersville  State University, but more importantly  of the the first group  to go to Marburg University in Germany.
 
The Beams and Marburg changed my life forever.  I have been blessed to teach on the college level  here in Massachusetts for almost 55 years and it was largely due to the influence of Richard Beam.   After Richard died and out of my deep respect for him, I started calling Dorothy on Saturday afternoons.  These conversations were a vital part of  my life as was everything Dorothy came in contact with.  She exuded grace, beauty, intelligence and the gift of always making the other person feel special.  She inspired me by her constant uplifting spirits.
 
Until the last conversation, Dorothy never forgot anything I told her.  For example,  “How did that rib roast dinner turn out?”  or “did you visit your son Trevor when you were in New York ” “did you enjoy your grandchildren on Long Island ?” or was your summer in Europe good or  how was the opera at the Met  (the tales of Hoffmann)  …. How are your college classes going this semester?”….and so many more questions…..
 
 
 
 Always: ‘KEEP CALLING……”she would sweetly say.
 
 There was usually a “auf wieder horen or tschuus”  at the end of our conversations.  There was one thing sure:  you never told anything to Dorothy which you did not want to fly back on you because she had a steel trap mind for precise memory.   Dorothy was one of a kind to listen to  and remember about others.
 
She loved to recount Leroy’s and Ulla’s visits.   I didn’t have to ask leroy when Ulla was going back to Germany:  Dorothy knew it was November 4th because he told her.
 
 
 
There were Dorothy’s reminiscences about the three years she spent in Marburg.  She came alive when I mentioned opera, a life long passion I have had thanks to Richard’s gentle remarks to his students:  “read the New York times and get out and do cultural things with your life.”  She did not have his strict Pennsylvania Dutch “suggestive” words but she shared his twinkle in the eye,  his humor and his zest for life.
 
 
 
Over the years there were visits with the Beams. So many memories flood back to me.
 
But it will be Dorothy’s beautiful words during those Saturday calls when it was supposed to be about Dorothy but ended up being about me,  her friend in Massachusetts.  She brought all I love about Lancaster county to me from afar.  With her sharp sense of life,  she may have known her end was coming during the last call.  She wished me:    “Happy Halloween, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”  I thought at the time it was a little strange but now it fits in with all the beautiful uplifting inspirational words which were Dorothy’s.  She also told me “keep busy.”  As I keep busy, I will carry her in my heart and mind.
 
We will all miss her but we are happy she can join her husband.  I miss her already and our Saturday conversations. 
 
 May God bless her and may God bless the Beams who gave so much to so many.
 
With love in my heart,
 
Jeanne Kendig, Ph. d
 

November 10, 2024

I am Jeanne Kendig Hambright  Moore, sending my words for Dorothy from Concord, Massachusetts.  I have called Dorothy for Saturday afternoons for years  since Richard passed.    Along with Dr. Leroy Hopkins, I was a student of Dorothy’s husband, Richard  Beam at Millersville  State University, but more importantly  of the the first group  to go to Marburg University in Germany.
 
The Beams and Marburg changed my life forever.  I have been blessed to teach on the college level  here in Massachusetts for almost 55 years and it was largely due to the influence of Richard Beam.   After Richard died and out of my deep respect for him, I started calling Dorothy on Saturday afternoons.  These conversations were a vital part of  my life as was everything Dorothy came in contact with.  She exuded grace, beauty, intelligence and the gift of always making the other person feel special.  She inspired me by her constant uplifting spirits.
 
Until the last conversation, Dorothy never forgot anything I told her.  For example,  “How did that rib roast dinner turn out?”  or “did you visit your son Trevor when you were in New York ” “did you enjoy your grandchildren on Long Island ?” or was your summer in Europe good or  how was the opera at the Met  (the tales of Hoffmann)  …. How are your college classes going this semester?”….and so many more questions…..
 
 
 
 Always: ‘KEEP CALLING……”she would sweetly say.
 
 There was usually a “auf wieder horen or tschuus”  at the end of our conversations.  There was one thing sure:  you never told anything to Dorothy which you did not want to fly back on you because she had a steel trap mind for precise memory.   Dorothy was one of a kind to listen to  and remember about others.
 
She loved to recount Leroy’s and Ulla’s visits.   I didn’t have to ask leroy when Ulla was going back to Germany:  Dorothy knew it was November 4th because he told her.
 
 
 
There were Dorothy’s reminiscences about the three years she spent in Marburg.  She came alive when I mentioned opera, a life long passion I have had thanks to Richard’s gentle remarks to his students:  “read the New York times and get out and do cultural things with your life.”  She did not have his strict Pennsylvania Dutch “suggestive” words but she shared his twinkle in the eye,  his humor and his zest for life.
 
 
 
Over the years there were visits with the Beams. So many memories flood back to me.
 
But it will be Dorothy’s beautiful words during those Saturday calls when it was supposed to be about Dorothy but ended up being about me,  her friend in Massachusetts.  She brought all I love about Lancaster county to me from afar.  With her sharp sense of life,  she may have known her end was coming during the last call.  She wished me:    “Happy Halloween, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”  I thought at the time it was a little strange but now it fits in with all the beautiful uplifting inspirational words which were Dorothy’s.  She also told me “keep busy.”  As I keep busy, I will carry her in my heart and mind.
 
We will all miss her but we are happy she can join her husband.  I miss her already and our Saturday conversations. 
 
 May God bless her and may God bless the Beams who gave so much to so many.
 
With love in my heart,
 
Jeanne Kendig, Ph. d