It's with a heavy heart I say goodbye and God speed to my Aunt Beverly who passed away at the age of 91.
Bev had a rough start in life – as an infant, getting sick with a high fever which left her mentally challenged and then losing her mother at 14 months old, she had to rely on her older twin sisters and her little Swedish grandmother to teach her the ways of the world.

At 18 years old, she was sent to live in an institution for the mentally ill in Faribault, MN. It was a noisy, hectic, impersonal and frightening place - so far removed from what she had known her entire life. After the institution closed, she lived in a couple of group homes that were far better than her life in Faribault, but when she moved into this home where she has lived the last 30 years, she found friends, family and people who would lovingly care for her.

She had an uncanny gift of remembering dates. She knew the birthdays of everyone in her life. She learned both Swedish & English. She did beautiful embroidery work. She played the bells in her church's Christmas pageant. She was very strong in her faith.

She loved animals, babies, poetry and Lawrence Welk. Every time she spoke with Mom on the phone, she would sign off with "Say hello to all the animals and say hello to Georgene".

I learned so much witnessing my mom's relationship with her baby sister, Bev – compassion, patience, tolerance, kindness and unconditional love. For this, I am grateful.


Survived by twin sisters Luella Johnson, Minnetonka and Lucille Trulson of White Bear Lake. Also nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and great great nieces and nephews.