Jean Bernard Begue

Jean Bernard Bégué died peacefully in his sleep at home in Salt Lake City on Friday June 26, 2026, just a few days shy of his 94th birthday. He is survived by his four children Yvette (John Fawell), Christopher, Timothy, and Michael; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, as well as his brother, Paul; and former daughter-in-law, Denise Bégué. He was predeceased by Tim’s wife, Catherine Kirby; and by his wife, Nancy (“Nina”) (Brown) Bégué who died 20 years earlier. He never stopped missing her.

Born on the 4th of July, 1932, in Cleveland, OH to French parents who were in the USA for what they then thought would be a temporary teaching post, Bernard came to deeply admire American business enterprise and ingenuity. While still a boy, he worked on farms for several summers and remembered happily caring for Clydesdale horses, and less happily, cleaning out chicken coops. As a teenager, he worked in the Hoboken NJ shipyards. Bernard attended Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, earning both a General Engineering degree and a masters in Industrial Engineering. While earning his graduate degree, Bernard also served in the US Army and was stationed at the Army Chemical Center in Maryland for two years.

He began his career as an industrial engineer with United Steel (Oil City, PA), and moved into executive positions with General Foods (Paris), and finally Abbott Laboratories (North Chicago, IL; Lauringburg, NC; Salt Lake City, UT). His early work experiences, especially at the shipyards, led to a lifelong interest in labor relations and management techniques. As a leader, Bernard was described as direct, accessible and results-oriented. Several former employees commented on his practice of encouraging employees at all levels, from the janitorial staff to senior managers, to participate together in regular strategy meetings.

Bernard met Nina in her home town of Oil City, PA. They shared countless interests. Nina taught Bernard how to play tennis, something that remained important to them for many decades. They learned to fly small aircraft together. They liked to do the New York Times crossword puzzle together every day. They travelled all over the world together. Early in their courtship, Bernard encouraged Nina to spend a year in India on her own with USAID, an experience which left an indelible mark on her. He supported her decision to open her own travel business and cheered her on in all her charitable and political efforts such helping establish the League of Women Voters in North Carolina.

Bernard was similarly an enthusiastic and involved parent. He expected a lot of his children but was supportive of whatever they did. Bernard treated his children as equals and expected them all to master life skills such as cooking, cleaning, and home and car maintenance. His children remember the meals that Bernard would scrounge up for them out of seemingly nothing when Nina was out of town. They also remember fondly the long hikes he would take them on, and how he would produce some french bread and a chocolate bar just when they thought they could not go on any longer. They remember less fondly the math problems he would subject them to during long car trips.

While Bernard chose to live his life as an American, he never lost his connection to France. His parents were both college professors who created a hub of French culture within their home in New York City, hosting French writers and artists. This effort only intensified during WWII. Bernard frequently recounted going into bars in NYC as a young boy during that period to seek out French sailors to bring them to the family apartment for a home-cooked supper. He was bilingual, attended boarding school in Les Roches, France shortly after the war ended (arriving on a small cargo ship with giant bags of foods and other goods for the extended family in France), and was also later a student at the Lycée Français in NYC. Bernard and Nina spent several months travelling through France for their honeymoon and later, they and their children lived in France for many years. Bernard and Nina especially enjoyed stays in Provence with friends and family.

Bernard was an avid outdoorsman, starting in Woodville, RI, where for many summers in his youth, Bernard and his brother Paul pursued various outdoor adventures including hunting and camping along the Wood river, pretty much on their own. Later, he joined the Boy Scouts, where he helped lead multi-day treks throughout the countryside. He continued to seek outdoor adventures throughout his adult life, especially hiking in the Alps, Utah and Wyoming. He was also a serious boater, sailing and kayaking all over the world.

Bernard was a voracious reader up to his final days. Virtually any chat with Bernard would end with both a book recommendation and a request for new books. He loved poetry, fiction and non-fiction, especially books about history and politics. He was passionate about the need to understand world history and inculcated a similar level of interest in all of his children and grandchildren. The great-grandchildren do not yet know how to read, but we expect that they will carry on that tradition.

Finally, Bernard lived at Legacy Village of Sugar House in Salt Lake City for the last several years of his life. His children are grateful to Legacy for their excellent care of Bernard and for the consistent kindness shown to him by the staff.