Linda L. Bean, seen here in 2009, died Saturday. She was 82. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer, file
ST. GEORGE — Linda L. Bean, a granddaughter of L.L. Bean founder Leon Leonwood Bean who built a wide variety of businesses of her own and was a well-known philanthropist, died Saturday.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of Linda L. Bean,” said Veronika Carlson, president of Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Hospitality, in a statement Sunday.
Bean, a Republican and donor to conservative causes who also twice ran for a House seat in Maine’s 1st Congressional District, was 82 years old.
“Linda was known for her amazing work ethic, entrepreneurial spirit as well as her pride and dedication to her home state of Maine and L.L.Bean, the company her grandfather founded,” Carlson said.
Bean’s businesses, grouped under the lifestyle umbrella company called Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine, spanned the gamut from wedding planning to lodging and even waterside tours – on Bean’s 42-foot lobster boat – of the Maine spots frequented and depicted by the Wyeth family artists.
She bought lobster dealerships in the Midcoast region and owned the Port Clyde General Store and Tenants Harbor General Store. She founded the Perfect Maine Lobster brand in 2007.
Bean had a lifelong interest in Maine art and New England history. She founded the N.C. Wyeth Research Foundation & Reading Libraries, a private nonprofit entity that is building or restoring Wyeth properties in Port Clyde; Wilmington, Delaware; and Needham, Massachusetts.
A fire that destroyed three waterfront buildings in the heart of the historic Port Clyde village last September also destroyed original artwork by Jamie Wyeth housed in Linda Bean’s Maine Wyeth Art Gallery above the store, as well as rare books about the Wyeth family history.
State political leaders mourned her death Sunday.
“I was saddened to learn of the passing of Maine businesswoman and philanthropist Linda Bean,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement on Sunday. “Linda’s career included nearly five decades on the board of the iconic company started by her grandfather, L.L.Bean, and successful ventures and investments in Maine’s lobster, real estate and hospitality industries. Linda generously contributed to the arts, to land conservation, to LifeFlight of Maine, and to efforts to restore and rebuild her beloved Port Clyde.
“While her politics did not align with mine, Linda and I found common ground in our mutual love of our home state, of the coast of Maine and our working waterfronts, of Maine inspired art and of the perfect Maine lobster roll. I enjoyed her company and admired her business acumen,” Mills added.
“Linda Bean loved the State of Maine. Its coastal communities, islands, and art, particularly by the Wyeths, had a special place in her heart,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “Linda also was an astute businesswoman who promoted Maine lobster through her restaurants. My heart goes out to her sons and other family members as they mourn the loss of this remarkable Mainer.”
Bean and her sister, Diana, donated to philanthropic causes, including LifeFlight of Maine; the construction of twin helicopter landing pads atop Maine Medical Center in Portland; and to a St. George Municipal School Unit building that will specialize in teaching trades, according to the company website.
She was educated in public schools in Freeport and Yarmouth through eighth grade, and then attended the Oak Grove School for Girls in Vassalboro, the Waynflete School in Portland and Antioch College in Ohio, where she studied business and accounting before graduating in 1964, according to her company’s website.
Bean served on the boards of the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Brandywine Conservancy & Art Museum in Pennsylvania, Portland Museum of Art, the Maine Historical Society, the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund in Missouri, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and L.L. Bean.
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