Norman Earl Beique, 79, died Monday, May 13, 2019, at home in Enfield, Connecticut, with his wife of 32 years, Joanne, by his side. Norm was an ever-present father and father figure to his children, stepchildren, grandchildren and a beloved menagerie of Dachshunds. He had a quick wit and a fine sense of humor shaped by Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Ernie Kovacs and Monty Python.
Norm was born June 16, 1939, in East Freetown, Massachusetts, to Normand and Dorothy
(Joiner) Beique, and lived most of his life in New England. In the early 1950s, Norm and his
mother moved to grandmother Kathleen (O’Loughlin) Joiner’s farm near Lilly, Georgia, to stay
with family while his father remained up North to work. Those were formative years, where
Norm learned to fish, shoot a .22 rifle and drive a Farmall tractor in the company of loving
aunts, uncles and cousins, especially his Aunts Terry, Ruth and Louvenia, and cousin Gary
Joiner.
After Norm and his mother rejoined his father in Marlboro, Connecticut, he attended East
Hampton High School and was president of the Class of 1958. Classmates called him “The
Professor” for his maturity and penchant for smoking a pipe. Norm and friends formed a short-lived doo-wop group called The Ceramics. He attended Central Connecticut State College but left before graduating to continue working full time to support his growing family. He married Nancy Batogowski in April 1962. They lived in Bristol, Connecticut, from 1968 to 1977 and divorced in 1979.
Norm worked as a manager for Food Mart, then later for Medi Mart and other retailers. In the
mid-’70s, he owned and operated Farmington Valley Medical and Surgical Supply Co. In the late 1970s, Norm became the health and beauty aids buyer for the First National supermarket chain, from which he retired in 1992. Ever the student, he returned to college and earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from UMass Amherst in 1998. Norm married Joanne Burnett in 1987 and served as a loving stepfather to her five children. After his retirement, they lived in South Windsor, Connecticut; Greenfield, Massachusetts; Winchester, New Hampshire; and Cottonwood, Arizona.
Norm is survived by his wife, Joanne Beique of Enfield, Connecticut; daughters Maureen
Wallbeoff (Brian Leib) of Forestdale, Massachusetts, and Lisa Kurpit of Guilford, Connecticut;
son Paul Beique (Barbara Magill) of Boulder, Colorado; stepsons David Burnett of Coventry,
Connecticut, Dan Burnett of San Francisco, California, and Pete Burnett (Odette) of Hoboken, New Jersey; stepdaughters Kris Gassick (Bob) of Cottonwood, Arizona, and Pamela DeWitt (Jason) of Enfield, Connecticut; granddaughters Dana Kurpit, Rowan Wallbeoff, Kendra Procaccini, Sarah Madsen, and Sophia and Riley Burnett, Maria Repnikova, and Fiona Grubin; grandsons Brett Kurpit, Noah Burnett, Nathan Madsen, Ethan DeWitt, Leo Burnett and Dmitri Repnikov; great-grandson Atreyu Valentine; sisters-in-law Nan Hardigan of Peabody, Massachusetts, and Gail Callahan (Bill) of Greenfield, Massachusetts; brother-in-law Bill Rogers (Karen) of Alton, New Hampshire; nieces Laura Irwin and Nicole Rogers; and nephews Bob Irwin, Bill Hardigan, Greg Hardigan, Peter Hardigan, Ross Burns, Casey Burns, Tim Burns, Dylan Rogers and Devin Rogers.
Norm remained close with his former sisters-in-law Jean Jones (Marshall) of Hampstead, North Carolina, and Kathleen Lapollo of Perkinsville, Vermont, and their children, Allison Brigandi (Mark), Lauren Martin, and Scott Lapollo (Jennie). Norms’ daughter Michele Procaccini died in 2017.
A special thanks to Pam and Jason DeWitt and family, who opened their home to Norm and
provided such excellent care in his last months.
A remembrance will be planned at a later date. Friends may make donations in Norm’s name to the National Brain Foundation.
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