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Beatrice Taplin OBITUARY

Bea Taplin passed away peacefully on August 24 at 101 years old in her beloved home of 67 years.

Bea’s parents Mary and Lawrence Britton emigrated to Massachusetts from Nova Scotia shortly before her 1924 birth. Growing up in North Andover, a high school teacher encouraged her to escape a troubled home and the factory-focused local economy of the time. Bea was accepted by the prestigious Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing in Boston. While working as a pediatric nurse at Mass General after her graduation, she jumped at an offer to join the American Hospital in Paris. Living there from 1947 to 1949 launched Bea’s life-long love for the French capital and for travel to European points beyond.

Searching for a new home base after returning to work at Mass General, she chose Denver based partly on favorable impressions of Denverites she had met in Paris. She was accepted for a job at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and by the early 1950s was a leading nurse in what was then called the cancer ward. A job entailing frequent heartbreak for children, their parents and staff, it helped instill in Bea a stoicism in dealing with life tragedies and a desire to support medical treatment and training in Colorado.

In 1952 Bea married Thomas Taplin, himself a recent Denver arrival from Cleveland. Bea and Tom had four boys, and Bea focused on raising them in the 1950s and early 1960s. By the mid 1960s Bea and Tom began supporting charitable organizations throughout the Denver region. Bea was an early supporter of Planned Parenthood and served on the boards of the Visiting Nurses Association and the Denver Symphony Orchestra.

Bea spent decades working for the health of Colorado residents, specifically focusing on children’s healthcare. She joined the Board of Directors of Children’s Hospital Colorado in 1967 and was an active Director Emeritus after 1984. In 2009 the Board appointed her a Lifetime Director. At Children’s, Bea endowed teaching and research chairs in pediatric nursing, cancer and celiac disease. Bea’s dedication to Children’s, together with major support by several other Coloradans, helped it become one of the top ranked children’s hospitals in the country.

While Tom was alive, the couple also enabled healthcare initiatives at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (now Anschutz Medical Campus). Their support included pediatric oncology, biomedical research facilities and an endowed chair in orthopedic teaching. Bea also returned to her nursing roots with support for Massachusetts General Hospital nursing programs.

Bea’s love of gardening inspired her to help the Denver Botanic Gardens. She joined the Gardens Board in 1978 and served as Chairman from 1988 to 1990. In 2000 Bea became a Life Trustee of the Board, one of only three people so honored in its history. At the Gardens, Bea funded the Fragrance Garden, endowed an internship program, and supported various master plan and infrastructure projects. She also spearheaded fundraising initiatives such as the Fêtes des Fleurs. In 2009 the Gardens christened a white flowering water lily as Nymphaea Bea Taplin.

Bea also joined the boards of the Denver Foundation and the Gallagher Family Foundation, and in later years increased her support for education, community and cultural groups in Denver. She provided substantial funding to the Barton Institute for Community Action, the Denver Public Schools (including its Denver School of Science and Technology), Metropolitan State University of Denver, the Denver Art Museum, and many other organizations.

At home, Bea created a remarkable English-style perennial garden that was accepted into the Smithsonian Archive of American Gardens in 2023. She enjoyed being a member of the Garden Club of Denver for over 60 years, and she participated in the Garden Club of America for over 50 years. A voracious reader until her eyesight diminished, Bea actively participated in the Tuesday Book Club, which included unusual voices of fiction from other cultures. Bea generally eschewed serious collecting aside from occasional antiques, but in her seventies and eighties built a notable collection of engraved 18th century Dutch and English glass, of which the best pieces are now in the collection of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Bea was also a huge opera fan, and meeting Luciano Pavarotti backstage in 1986 was one of the highlights of her life.

Bea was predeceased by her husband Tom, and her sons Tom Jr. and Ted. Her siblings Layton, Darrell and Shirley also predeceased her. She is survived by her sons Buzz (and DiAhn) and Sandy (and Broeck), her son Tom Jr.’s wife Cory Freyer, five grandchildren and a great grandchild. Dozens of cherished friends past and present enriched her life.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation or Denver Botanic Gardens. A private family service will be followed by a reception for friends and family.