Ann Bean

Ann Bean, loving mother of four and grandmother of six, passed away peacefully on March 17, 2021 at the age of 80 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.



Ann was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in June of 1940 to Oscar and Leona (Schmale) Pleines. The second oldest child of six, she grew up on a farm, where life was tough with endless chores and numerous responsibilities. This fostered her self-sufficiency and work ethic that she passed on to her children.



As a talented and creative artist, that her father encouraged with art classes, Ann captured and expressed her observations and joy of daily life in many mediums that were cherished and admired throughout her life. Her nurturing nature was abundantly apparent as she strove to comfort, nourish, and cultivate children, animals and plants. After graduating from high school, she moved to Colorado to help her brother and continued her quest for new experiences and enjoying life's gifts.



As the greatest Mom ever, she lovingly raised a family of four children in the northern suburbs of Denver, Colorado, worked hard to provide for them, shared a unique love of art and life and was devoted to support and encourage their happiness and success.



In Ann's next great endeavor, she further discovered the beautiful southwest and moved to Hillsboro and then Kingston, New Mexico to make her home, continued her life-long learning and cultivated her creative interests and skills. Enjoying her first love of producing art as her primary occupation, in many varied mediums, she also preferred small-town life closer to nature.



After a well lived life full of experiences, joys and resilience, Ann moved on in peace, expressing her greatest achievement as her family. Her family and friends will profoundly miss her and cherish wonderful memories of her everlasting smile, joyful laugh, singing in the kitchen, all-encompassing tight hugs, generosity, artistic talents, expert sewing, knowledge of gardening, unique humor, perspective and observations, and enduring loving support.



Her parents, brothers Lorrence and Harold Pleines, son-in-law Derek Andreasen and many beloved animals preceded her in death.



She is survived by her children; Steven (Helene) Bean of Colorado, Douglas (Malika) Bean of Washington, Heidi Andreasen of North Carolina, and Nancy Bean (Greg Mollendor) of Colorado. Additionally, she has six grandchildren Sean, David, Elise, Chloe, Kayla and Hailey that will miss her thoughtful love laden care packages and sweet notes decorated with her artwork.





Ann had a genuine heart for animals and spent most of her later days taking care of the many that came into her life. We would ask that in lieu of flowers, please donate to MaxFund Animal Adoption Center (Denver, CO) https://maxfund.org/index.cfm or The Cat's Meow Animal Rescue (Las Cruces, NM) https://www.thecatsmeowlascruces.com/ as these two organizations were instrumental in helping with rehoming of her many cats.

We would also like to thank the people in the Hillsboro and Kingston communities that helped Ann and our family during this difficult time, as well as the wonderful nurses and doctors at Memorial Medical Center and hospice care at La Posada in Las Cruces. We will celebrate Ann's life every day and honor her memory by how we live our best lives.