Hundreds of family and friends gathered to celebrate Beane, the Agawam native who was the public address announcer for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
STURBRIDGE – The booming voice that caromed around every nook and cranny of Fenway Park is silenced, but to the many people touched by Carl Beane, the memories will live on.
One week after his death of a heart attack, hundreds of family and friends gathered Wednesday night at the Sturbridge Host Hotel to celebrate Beane, the Agawam native who rose from sportscasting to become the public address announcer for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
His career was celebrated on Friday in an on-field ceremony at Fenway, but Wednesday's memorial was for his many friends in Western Massachusetts.
A 1971 Agawam High School graduate, Beane became the Red Sox public address announcer in 2003. He had already been well known to the Red Sox as a radio reporter, known in Western Massachusetts for his work at radio station WARE.
Upon becoming public address announcer, Beane's signature introduction at each game was unchanging. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway Park,'' he greeted each and every crowd.
“You knew him as the booming voice that filled every corner of Fenway; we knew him as the one who used to give us sponge baths,” his younger brother, Allan “Butch” Beane said during the memorial.
His given name was Carleton, but everyone knew him as Carl, Allen said. Everyone except his family and friends for Agawam who knew him as “Rocky.”
“Rocky loved his family and his friends. And he left this earth doing what he loved the most,” he said.
In tribute to his brother's signature line from the Red Sox games, he closed by saying “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, thank you for loving my brother."
Beane's widow, Ann Lorraine Beane, spoke briefly. She said Carl to her was not just “The voice of Fenway Park.”
“I knew him as a husband, as a loving father and a loving grandfather. I knew him as a man with an unshakable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,” she said. “I shall miss him every day that I will be on this earth, but I know I will see him again when I go home to the Lord.”
A memory from his other brother, Darryl Beane, that was read during the service spoke of three brothers who were into mischief and sports and doing everything together.
“The last quality time we spent with him was when we went to see 'The Three Stooges' movie,” Darryl said.
The three boys grew up watching the Stooges, and “Rocky was our Moe. It didn't matter who was Larry or Curley; Rocky was our Moe. He was our leader,” Darryl said.
Family and friends spoke of a man with limitless generosity, of compassion. To know Carl Beane was to be his friend, and Carl Beane had a lot of friends.
Heather Bates, 25, and Allison Peters, 26, both of Agawam, drove out for the service to express their sympathy to the family. Each met Carl Beane once – and each said he let them try on one of the Red Sox World Series rings.
“He was a very nice gentleman,” Bates said. “He let me try on one of his rings, and I got a picture of it.”
Peters said, “His generosity meant a lot to us. It speaks to the kind of man he was.”
State Senator Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, said Carl was a friend and a constituent. The two would often visit the local schools together, and he recalled dozens of children being allowed to try on a ring.
“He brought a lot of joy to a lot of people,” he said.
Although his work at Fenway Park was in the announcing booth and not on the playing field, Brewer said “You don't have to wear a uniform to be a legend.”