It is with great sadness that family and friends announce Becky’s death, on June 25, 2026. A lively and intelligent woman, with a wicked sense of humor, who enriched the lives of all she met, she will be sorely missed. With love all things are possible. That’s how Becky lived her life.

Becky was born on Sept. 6, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio, and was adopted two years later by Ross and Margaret Allen Bearden. She grew up in Fairview Park, a Cleveland suburb, and spent winters in Fort Lauderdale until her father’s death when she was 12 years old. She attended high school at the Laurel School for Girls, where she made many lifelong friends, followed by DePauw University and then the Katherine Gibbs School.

Always civically-minded, Becky worked as a legal secretary for the City of Cleveland until she fell in love with Maine and its Northern Forest during a vacation. After re-locating to the Portland area in 1981, she worked at the Portland Concert Association, where she developed her love of the performing arts. There she met many world-renowned artists including Jessye Norman, Isaac Stern (whose violin she got to hold), Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and many more.

She also completed her BA in political science at the University of Southern Maine.

Becky and John, the love of her life, married in 1998, lived in Rumford, and moved to his family’s homestead, Willow Brook Farm in Boothbay, after his retirement in 2011. Before living permanently in Boothbay, she earned her master’s in fine arts in creative writing in 2005 from the Stonecoast Program of USM and wrote the weekly “Arts in the Valley” column for the Rumford Times Falls. She continued her writing and teaching life as the founder and director of the Willow Brook Farm Writing Workshop, and as a co-founder and member of Simply Not Done, a women’s writing collaborative founded with friends from Stonecoast. She also volunteered for many local organizations, and served as a deacon at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor.

Becky was an animal lover at heart, sharing her life with cats and greyhounds. With John at the Farm, she gave a home to many: most recently, their Maine coon cats Angus and Baxter, and the much-loved and remembered beagle, Tracker.

Becky is survived by her beloved husband of 28 years, John, and the children he brought to her: John H. Welsh V and wife Michelle, and Laura Kreuger; her adored grandchildren, Henry, William, Jackson, Lilly; and John’s sister Marti Goldstone; as well as close and extended family, who will remember their gatherings with love and laughter. She is also survived by many many friends who count themselves lucky to have been loved by her.

Services will be held at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, 125 Townsend Avenue, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538, on Thursday, July 30 at 11 a.m.

Donations in Becky’s name can be made to the Congregational Church at P.O. Box 468, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538.

The family would like to extend special thanks to Community Surgical, Dr. Subba, and the staff of Zimmerli and Bean 5, as well as to Becky’s church and writing families.

Hall's of Boothbay has care of the arrangements. To extend online condolences, please visit hallfuneralhomes.com.