Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Ben Beers '61

There are alumni, and then there are alumni. You know the ones - they spend their lives celebrating and elevating their school, by coaching, teaching, volunteering, and even sending their children and grandchildren to their alma mater. There are few in Burr and Burton’s 193-year history whose DNA is so indelibly intertwined with the school as Ben Beers ’61. 

This year, Ben celebrated his 62nd year as a member of the facilities staff, starting as a part-time, after-school employee when his mother was ill in 1959 and moving to full-time after graduation. Ben famously boasts that he got married on a Saturday, graduated on a Sunday, and started his full-time career at Burr and Burton on Monday. 

Ben is effusive in his praise of Burr and Burton, and his pride in his school was palpable in our conversation this spring. Ben’s brother attended Burr and Burton. His two children are graduates. So are three of his grandchildren. This spring, when he sat down to be interviewed for Five Things That Matter, he came armed with decades of Burr and Burton publications, photos, family trees, and hand-written remembrances. The care and thoughtfulness of his collection bears itself out in the high regard and love he gives to his job, the students, and the staff at BBA every day. 

And, the feeling is indeed mutual. Throughout his tenure, Burr and Burton has celebrated Ben’s contributions with gifts for his years of service, including a meaningful ceremony where he received 60 flowers from 60 students in honor of his 60th year working for Burr and Burton. He received the Burr and Burton Hall of Fame Friend of Athletics Award in 2009. He was named the Vermont Custodian of the Year in 2012 by the Vermont State Board of Education, and he has even received a ceremonial state championship jacket from 1987. And, this fall, the new maintenance facility on campus will be named the Ben Beers Maintenance Building in his honor. 

As we neared the end of our discussion on a warm spring day, a call came over his walkie-talkie, asking for his help with a stuck door in Seminary. Ben warmly assured me that he had a little more time to chat before heading back up the hill to make sure that he left Burr and Burton just a little bit better than how he found it this morning. Each project, each day, each year, Ben’s steady work has improved Burr and Burton for the next generation of alumni. 

And, who knows? Maybe there is a 2022 graduate who will bleed green and gold, just like Ben. 

I was married on a Saturday and graduated on a Sunday. I might be the only alumni from Burr and Burton who has done that! Graduation was my honeymoon! I was born in Peru, Vermont on a farm. I was seen by a traveling doctor, Dr. Pingree, two days after I was born and she sent a bill for $4. Carol Ann, my wife of 60 years went to Chester High. I got to know her well during the dances they had in Londonderry. Cheap as I was, I would wait for her to pay her way in, and then I’d come in and dance with her for the evening! She mentions it now and then, but I’ll tell you one thing, she has been a soul mate to me. She’s put up with a lot. I didn’t see my kids grow up, for the simple reason that I’d go from my work here at Burr and Burton, hop on the bus, and I’d have a bus trip out for basketball, field hockey, and softball.

I think if you have a student body as we do here at Burr and Burton, the faculty we have, and the leadership from our Headmaster, why wouldn’t you want to come back each year? I got my first contract in 1960. I was hired on at $2900/year paid once a month with no insurance. I didn’t care, I just thought more of Burr and Burton than I did of the paycheck. That’s probably why don’t want to retire. I’m only 80 going on 81, sweet 80. 

In 1959, my mother was gravely ill, and I started working for Frank Squires (maintenance director in the 1960s) when I was still a student. The reason I probably got the job after graduation is because I worked after school with Frank. I was his tagalong. 

This school really treats you like a human being. For my years of service (work anniversaries), they gave me a trip to Disney for my 25th. They sent me to Gettysburg for my 40th, because I love history. For my 45th, they gave me pieces of plaster from the Seminary when they renovated it, old nails. In fact, they gave me one of the studs, which is hand-sawed by a band saw from the third floor of the Seminary.

I think that the most inspiring thing is when I was Superintendent of Building and Grounds for 25 years. I got to start to see the first renovation in 1959 when we put a sprinkler system in and upgraded the electrical system. And when we bought the old Catholic Church (Larsen Hall) and renovated that. I’ve been inspired to watch it grow over time. 

Back in the early 70s, we didn’t have a nurse here at the school. So, I served as the school nurse. I was a paramedic, and I served 12 years with the Machester Rescue Squad. 

When Founders Hall was dedicated, I was asked to cut the ribbon. It was so nice to be asked to do that. 

Our graduating class had 61 students. We didn’t have the dormitories. We used the Mark Skinner Library, which is now Silver Fork, as our school library. When we had study hall, girls were over on the left, and boys were on the right. Up at the front of the room, we had a few encyclopedias and a dictionary. We had a grand piano that sat over in the corner, and we’d have our morning meetings there (in Seminary, where Counseling Offices are today). I didn’t have time to get into sports. I did get into football, but that didn’t last because I fractured a few ribs, so I wasn’t in it very long. I liked the Octopus paper - I gave a lot of input to it. 

I was a hellraiser when I came up from grade school. But, Al Henry straightened me out. He taught me to put my nose to the grindstone. I use that every day. You have to!

I drove the bus for 38 years. One night, I came in at 10:30/10:45, and I was checking the main Seminary building and turning out lights. As I was walking down the hallway, I heard footsteps behind me. The good ‘ol wooden floors were creaking. So, I stopped, turned around and a door went slamming shut. Well, my hair went straight up (I had hair back then). I always felt like the second floor of Seminary had an individual up there that you couldn’t see, but you knew it was there. Later, I thought about it, and there was a window open. It had to have been the wind that sucked the door shut… But, in my mind, it was someone walking around up there.