Linda Putback-Bean, C.E.O.
Pioneer

Linda learned to handle the tools and materials she uses every day, while helping her dad on the family farm. This childhood exposure and experience has allowed her to soar in her profession.

She attended Eureka College where she earned her bachelor's degree in Physical Education with minors in Art and Psychology. While attending Eureka, Linda began work in the Occupational Therapy Department in the psychiatric ward of a local hospital. She worked there for over four years until her husband was transferred to Houston. After the birth of her daughter, she worked in a restaurant, first as a waitress, then as a full time manager.

In 1985, a well respected local prosthetist, Tom Haslam, (one of her regular customers), offered her a job as a laboratory technician in his prosthetics company. Although she had to take an initial cut in pay, Linda was excited to return to the medical field. Shortly after she went to work, a father asked her boss if he could fit his one-year old son with one of the new small myoelectric hands that had been recently developed in Canada. Her boss cautioned him that no small children had been fitted with the electric prostheses in the United States.

Mr. Haslam asked her if she was interested in helping him fit this child. Working together, Linda and Mr. Haslam not only designed a new system for the small prosthesis but also trained the child and his parents how to operate and maintain it. The child has grown to become a star player on his high school varsity football team and has moved on to University on football scholarship.

National Recognition 

About a year after that first fitting, a newspaper article was written about the amazing adaptation this boy had made to the myoelectric prosthesis. The article was picked up by one of the wire services resulting in a "Life" article on Linda's expertise. After the magazine article, Linda and the children appeared on "20-20," " The Phil Donahue Show," "Good Morning America," and "The Maury Povich Show." This national publicity proved to be crucial in the lives of thousands of children when parents discovered there was an alternative to a hook for infant amputees. Linda's unique skills and hard work with these families allowed her to become acknowledged as the premier pediatric specialist in upper extremity prosthetics.

During the next five years, Linda personally fitted and fabricated arms for over 700 separate children. In addition, she was re-fitting the children as they outgrew their prostheses. In one 18-month period, she fitted and fabricated over 400 different prostheses.

Mr. Haslam became ill during her fifth year with him and retired. Linda took what had become her own practice to the Lanier Prosthetics Company. Mr. Lanier was a nationally well known as an innovative orthotist. Working together, Linda and Mr. Lanier designed the first flexible wrist joint used on a child's myoelectric prosthesis. The device doubled the usefulness of the prostheses they fitted to the children.

The publicity resulted in Linda developing a national practice and needing to associate with a company with a national presence. In October 2000, Linda subcontracted with Hanger as their "National Pediatric Upper Extremity Specialist." Less than 12 months later in 2001, Linda addressed their national conference and provided insights to her techniques and to her uniquely vast pool of experiences with pediatric patients and their families.

Vice President & Chief Prosthetist Dan is a world class Prosthetist- Orthotist who brings over thirty years of excellence to Pediatric Prosthetics Incorporated. His accomplishments are only overshadowed by his lifelong commitment and dedication to his patients’ welfare.

He is known well and highly respected in the prosthetics profession nation wide. He built his practice here along the Texas Gulf Coast, but his influence has spread far, far beyond the region. As the presiding President of the Texas Association of Prosthetists, he was influential in bringing about the legislation to once and for all lift the standards for Texas Certified Prosthetists to the preeminent level Texans enjoy today. Prosthetists and State Legislators from coast to coast have studied and benefited from his efforts.

Perhaps one of his most quietly cherished personal fulfillments is the knowledge that for nearly thirty years he was the prosthetist of choice for the Shriner’s Burn Hospital of Texas. Amputations due to burns are some of the most challenging, and heart wrenching fittings done by prosthetists, especially among the children.

Kenneth Bean
Vice President, Operations

Ken is Linda's husband, partner, and pilot. At Baylor, Ken majored in Family Counseling and translated those skills into writing life insurance successfully for three years. He earned his pilot's license during those years and began using his plane as a business tool.

In October of 1973, Ken met a traveling Japanese executive in distress. The man needed to get to Corpus Christi, New Orleans, and Oklahoma City, all in the next day. Ken told him he could either charter a plane, or if he wanted to, he could pay for the gas and Ken would fly him in his own plane.

They made the trip. Ken watched the Japanese businessman fire the president of U.S. operations. Mr. Nishizato then asked Ken if he could help him get around the U.S. for a couple of months while he covered for the man he had just fired. Ken took a leave from New York Life and did so. He soon discovered he was being mentored and tested every moment they were together.

Ken was asked to attend every meeting and learn. Four months later, Mr. Nishizato, (President and Chairman), handed Ken a four year no-cut contract as U.S. President of The Far East Trading Company. With his staff of employees, and numerous sub-contractors, Ken's job was to help international contractors get the materiel and equipment needed for remote area projects. At that time, the lead times on new equipment, of every description, as well as many critical materials, were very long. Ken and his staff searched for and purchased used equipment, refurbished and overhauled it, and shipped it all over the world. They also trans-shipped material and equipment allocated to the Far East Trading Company. They then sent a team to the remote locations and got the equipment and materiel off the ships, on to trucks, to the project site, and ready for service.

As the word of Ken's teams success circulated among project engineers, the Far East U.S. became a major start-up and logistics subcontractor for Brown & Root, Fleur, Bectel, and others. Within only three years, The Far East Trading Company had doubled U.S. revenue from $20,000,000 to $40,000,000 under Ken's leadership.

Ken was responsible for negotiating contracts, purchasing the equipment and materiel, and delivering it to the end users. He quickly mastered a broad cross section of industries, products, and remote area shipping methods. He coordinated with sister branches of The Far East Company to fill orders.

Upon Mr. Nishizato's retirement, Ken left the Far East Trading Company to become the middle east CEO for Mr. Robin Loh. At that time, the "Robin Group" was one of the 10 largest conglomerates in the world, based out of Singapore, and solely owned by Mr. Loh, to whom Ken reported directly. Middle east operations represented a key percentage of the conglomerate's revenue, as a result of the drilling, construction, ship building and project mobilization services.

In 1983, Ken began a research project based upon the premise: "There ought to be a better way to own a boat than to own a boat." He created a team and founded a private boat club, completed a private stock offering, and served as Chairman and CEO until 1989.