David McLean Bethune, 85, of Newport, RI, passed away on August 11, 2026, after a prolonged illness.
David was born in Birmingham, AL, to Margaret Bethune (née Brock) and James Bethune on August 7, 1941. They moved to Easton, PA, while he was in high school. He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Moravian College and a master’s degree in political science from Emory University.
He then moved to New Orleans, LA, where he met his wife, Jane Bethune (née Harrington), while pursuing a doctorate in political science at Tulane University, which he completed in 1974. They married in 1969 at St. Mary’s Church in Newport and remained together for nearly 55 years until her passing in 2024.
After leaving New Orleans, the couple lived in Birmingham, AL, and Erie, PA, where David worked as a professor of political science at Mercyhurst College. They eventually relocated to Newport (Jane’s hometown) in 1984. It was then that David made the impressive decision to change careers and trained as an accountant. He went on to have a rewarding career at Hasbro, where he worked for nearly 20 years.
An avid history enthusiast, David loved living in Newport. He was also a devoted sports fan who adopted all the local home teams, such as the Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox. But the team he cheered on above all was Tulane football; he remained an incredibly loyal fan even when they didn’t win very often.
David had a vast collection of team hats (he was rarely without a baseball cap on) and Swiss Army knives. He also loved shopping, especially at LL Bean. He was a voracious reader, enjoying everything from political non-fiction and biographies of historical figures to spy novels by Daniel Silva, and he watched nearly every movie on the Hallmark Channel. He also liked traveling, particularly to New Orleans and Paris.
Anyone who knew David knew he had an exceptional vocabulary and an excellent sense of humor. He was quite a character and will be greatly missed.
He is survived by his daughter Ashley Ferreira, her husband Edward J. Ferreira, Jr., and their daughter Lily Ferreira, of Portsmouth, RI; their son Jake Ferreira, of New York, NY; and their son Luke Ferreira, of Boston, MA. He is also survived by his daughter Meredith Bethune, her husband Dustin Janes, and their daughter Sylvia Janes, all of Albany, NY.
A private service for the family will be held on August 19, 2026, and he will be interred beside his wife, Jane, at St. Columba Cemetery in Middletown, RI.
