Calista Corporation Mourns the Passing of Board Director Robert L. Beans
Former Board Chair, Military Veteran Served the Y-K Region for Decades
October 8, 2023
With great sadness, Calista Corporation announces the passing of Board Secretary and former Chair Robert L. Beans on Saturday, Oct. 7.
The late Robert L. Beans, Calista Corp. Board Secretary and military veteran.
Calista Shareholders elected Beans, a community and statewide leader born and raised in Mountain Village, to serve on the Board of Directors for four consecutive terms. He served four years as board chair and his current role on the board was secretary.
“Robert was not only our Board member for the past nine years, and our past Chair, but he was our friend, and will be dearly missed,” said Calista Corp. President and CEO Andrew Guy.
“Throughout his life, Robert served our Region. He was deeply committed to advancing the socio-economic interests of Calista Shareholders and the financial health of our corporation. He also championed public health and public safety improvements and reducing the cost of energy in our communities,” said Calista Board Chair Willie Kasayulie.
A military veteran, Beans served in the Alaska Army National Guard from 1971 to 1988 and was honorably discharged at the rank of Captain. His career of public service included former service as an Alaska State Trooper, a Village Public Safety Officer, and Aniak Police and Volunteer Fire Department Chief. He formed the Kuigpagamiut Community Development Corp. in Mountain Village, and held positions at the Coastal Villages Region Fund, the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, and the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development.
In addition to serving on Calista’s board, Beans was a current board member of Nuvista Light & Electric Cooperative, Inc. His lifelong devotion to his community included 36 years on the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc. board of directors, 25 of which he was the board chair; and service on other boards and commissions including Azachorok Incorporated; local school boards in the 1980s; the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Power Cost Equalization and the National EPA/Tribal Operations Council in the 1990s; and the Alaska Tobacco Control Alliance in the early 2000s.
The Calista Board of Directors and management express our deepest condolences to Beans’ wife Agnes and their six children and eleven grandchildren.
###
Calista Corporation has over 36,900 Shareholders and is the parent company of more than 30 subsidiaries in the following industries: defense contracting, construction, real estate, environmental services, natural resource development, marine transportation, oilfield services, and heavy equipment sales, service and rentals. Since 1994, Calista has provided more than $6.1 million in scholarships to its Shareholders and Descendants. Since inception, Calista has declared more than $124 million in dividends and distributions, including $10.2 million in Elders’ Benefit Program distributions to Shareholders. Calista can be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/CalistaCorporation), Twitter (https://twitter.com/CalistaCorp) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/calistacorp).