Obituary: Marcel Beaudin, 1929-2024 

click to enlarge

• Courtesy
• Marcel Beaudin

Marcel Beaudin sailed off into the Lake Champlain sunset on Friday, March 29, 2024, passing away at the age of 95 years and 11 days.

Born in Barre, Vt., in 1929, Marcel was the eldest of the four children of Armand Beaudin, a stonecutter, and Eva (LeFevre) Beaudin, a seamstress, both of whom were from the Sherbrooke area of Québec. Marcel graduated from Spaulding High School, where he demonstrated his aptitude for design by working as a junior draftsman for a monument fabricator.

After high school, Marcel moved to New York City with the intent of enrolling in college and was initially employed as a junior designer of tombstones and mausoleums. Planning to be a sculptor, he eventually enrolled at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, inspired to study architecture following a chance encounter with the Swiss French architect and designer Le Corbusier.

Marcel married his first wife, Vera, in 1948, and in 1957 he built a home of his design on Shelburne Point, where they raised their five children, until moving to Burlington in 1970.

Marcel began his private architectural practice, Beaudin and Associates, in Burlington in the late 1950s and practiced for almost 70 years. Among Marcel’s score of architectural projects were residences, public buildings and places of worship. Burlington is home to many of these, including the iconic Community Boathouse. He was a dedicated planning commission member, helping shape the development and landscape of Burlington and its waterfront. Marcel attempted to retire at age 90, in 2019, actively consulting in the years that followed.

In addition to his work, Marcel’s passion was sailing. He sailed both competitively and for pleasure on Lake Champlain and enjoyed regular excursions to the Bahamas and beyond, joined by his wife, Ruth, and friends old and new.

Sailboat racing became a family mission, and he competed with his close friends and his sons regularly on both Lake Champlain and in regattas from Newport to Key West. His proudest competitive sailing achievement was setting the record for the most victories in the Lake Champlain Yacht Club Ladies Cup Race, with a total of six wins, always with at least one of his sons on board. He was particularly proud of the wins in 2010 and 2017, when the three-generation crew included his grandsons.

Marcel’s life project was the cofounding, in 1994, of the Burlington Community Sailing Center. Originally housed in Burlington’s abandoned Moran Plant, the resource truly came to life with the design and construction of the new sailing center, which was completed in 2018. Though Marcel designed the building, he would insist on acknowledging that it was a team effort that included longtime colleagues who shared his vision and commitment to giving everyone, regardless of income, a chance to enjoy the lake through sailing. His dream for this vital local institution now carries his passion for sailing to future generations.

Marcel took on other good works because they “needed doing.” The most remarkable and recent example is acting as consulting architect for the Lost Mural Project, saving a hidden artwork from destruction. His contributions to engineering the moving and installation of the restored mural in the lobby of Burlington’s Ohavi Zedek Synagogue has facilitated yet another Vermont landmark.

Marcel is predeceased by his first wife and mother to his four children, Vera Beaudin Saeedpour; his second wife, Ruth (Binch) Beaudin; his son Marc Beaudin; and his brother Conrad Beaudin.

Marcel is survived by his children Paul Beaudin (Wendy), Rebecca Beaudin (Christopher Carlson), Adam Beaudin and Jeb Beaudin; grandchildren, Jonah and Aaron Beaudin; and stepchildren, Sheryl Shaker (Ted), and their children, Molly, Grace and Will, and Beth Alpert and children Sam (Emily) and Rebecca. He is also survived by his sister, Suzanne Beaudin, and his brother Roger Beaudin (Jeannie Boudah).

A celebration of Marcel’s long, accomplished life will be held in August at the Community Sailing Center. In lieu of flowers, donations in Marcel’s name can be sent to the Community Sailing Center or to Howard Center’s Westview House, in honor of Marcel’s late son, Marc.