Vicki Bean Topliff is the daughter of Willard and Rebecca Bean's second child, Alvin. From the time she was small she heard stories about "life on the farm" and longed to go there and experience it with her father.

It wasn't until 1972, when she was 29 years old, that she had the privilege of flying to Palmyra, New York, with her father and spending three days visiting his home town. She learned then that the Bean name would forever be remembered fondly in that community. The welcome mat was out and the doors were open wide for members of the Bean family.

In 1988 Vicki married Edward Robert Topliff who had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 1987. Since Ed had been a member less than a year, they were unable to be sealed in the temple on their scheduled wedding date. In their eagerness to be married in a meaningful location, they requested permission to hold the ceremony in the Joseph Smith Home. Due to Vicki's heritage and the impact the Bean family had had on the town of Palmyra, permission was granted. Accompanied by Alvin and Dorothy Bean, Vicki and Ed were married in that sacred place on June 7, 1988. Missionary couples from surrounding Church Historical Sites gathered in the small living room that afternoon to witness the event. Walking across the street to the Sacred Grove after the ceremony, Alvin told stories about his life in Palmyra in the early 1900's. Not a dry eye was found in that group as spiritual experiences were shared.

Vicki has been privileged to return to Palmyra several times since that day in 1988. She and Ed went with a small group of family members in 1998 which included her father and his new wife, Hilda, as well as her sister Lori and her family. The year 2000 proved to be a banner year for trips to upstate New York. In April she and Lori, by invitation of the First Presidency, accompanied their father to the dedication of the Palmyra Temple. Vicki’s book was one of the items sealed up in the cornerstone of that temple.

A return trip was made just three months later with 28 family members. The purpose of this trip was to video Alvin in his home town and to get every piece of information out of his brain and onto film. Al was photographed in the Sacred Grove and on the Hill Cumorah, at the Peter Whitmer farm and the Martin Harris home, at the Smith Home and in the new Welcome Center. Approximately seven hours of video were taken, and the family feels content that no stories were left out and no memories forgotten. That video is currently being edited into a 60-minute documentary.

Not only does the family have the video to capture the details of the Bean’s 25-year mission on the Joseph Smith Farm, but Vicki is in the process of preparing a 2-volume work that is intended to include everything there is to know about Willard and Rebecca Bean. These books will not only detail their mission in New York, but will include journal and scrapbook excerpts on all of Willard’s missions, hundreds of photographs, and the complete text of the four books he wrote while living in Palmyra.

Vicki is the mother of seven children and grandmother of 23. That number, of course, changes regularly. She and Ed live in Orem, Utah.