Charles E. Beane; Former Air Force Captain

Camarillo resident and former U.S. Air Force Capt. Charles Emery Beane died late last month. He was 37.

Beane was struck and killed by a passing motorist while adjusting a load in his pickup on the side of the freeway on the Conejo Grade.

Although his immediate family lives in Maine, Beane had established himself at the Ventura Missionary Church and as an announcer for the Mariner amateur hockey team at the Easy Street Arena in Simi Valley, friend Norma Zuber said.

“We were all his family here,” Zuber said of the friends Beane made at the church. “He would spend Thanksgiving with us. He was about the same age as my older children, and he often would just drop by to give me a book or say hello.”

Born Aug. 23, 1958, in Augusta, Me., Beane attended grade school and high school in Maine before heading to Boston University, where he graduated in 1981 with a degree in aerospace engineering, according to his family.

After working as a test technician for the Navy in Maryland and at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Me., Beane decided to join the Air Force, family members said.

He went to Officer’s Training School in San Antonio, Tex., and, upon receiving his commission, was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, working as a flight test engineer. During his service, Beane was involved with testing and evaluating electrical systems on F-16 jet fighters. He also flew the planes as well as F-4s, a two-seat bomber used in the Vietnam War, and T-38s, another two-seat jet used mostly for training.

Beane left the Air Force in 1990 and moved to Camarillo, working first at Gruman Aircraft Systems at Point Mugu, and most recently at Elume Co. of Simi Valley, Zuber said.

He is survived by his mother, Lizzy Poole, and stepfather Herbert Poole of York, Me., and his sister, Nancy Kolligian, of Franklin, Mass.

A private interment is planned later this fall at the Beane family plot at the Hallowell Cemetery in Hallowell, Me.

A memorial charitable trust has been set up for annual education grants to residents of California or Maine who are changing careers and need assistance with job retraining. Donations may be made to the Charles (Chuck) Beane Memorial Education Trust, c/o Norma Zuber, Career and Life Planning, Suite 237, 3585 Maple St., Ventura 93003.