Beverly Jean Nygaard Hansen was born on Feb. 7, 1930, in Tacoma, Washington. She was the daughter of Emil and Agnes Nygaard. A proud Ballard Beaver, the high school brought her an education, lifetime friendships and introduced her to her husband of 62 years, Ken. She and Ken were married in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1948. To get to Honolulu in those days she had to fly to California and then take a ship. Beverly always had a spirit of adventure. After the wedding, they so enjoyed their time on the islands that they would eventually return for a month each fall. Their wedding song was a Hawaiian Wedding Song. She had a life long soft spot for everything Hawaii. They also chased the sun in Palm Springs, California each spring.
In addition to travel, Beverly’s favorite pastimes included: rooting for the Seattle Seahawks, listening to Johnny Mathis and shopping trips to Nordstrom. Later in life, that list expanded to embrace binging episodes of Queer Eye.
Beverly was many things and multi-faceted. She was always so well put-together; with a spectacular collection of spectacles. She never left the house without being perfectly coiffed and never really got how her tomboy granddaughters could run around sweaty after volleyball and be in public without mascara.
She was renowned for her stubbornness. But stubborn in a good way. She was fiercely protective of her family. If you said anything negative about a family member she would be the first to stand up and contradict you. She was also very inclusive, with an incredible memory for the details of your story. She would somehow store away the smallest details from years before, about you and your story. She would make friends at Starbucks and remember your name if she saw you there a week later. She was a friend to all. It didn’t really take much to be in her circle. Her grandchildren’s friends also called her “grandma”. She extended her protectiveness to all she deemed to be family. Yes, she was loving too. Stacy, as a girl, would just lay on her lap for hours because Grandma Beverly would scratch her back with really good nails.
Her stubbornness was on full display at the very end of life. She was struggling to stand on her own and Bill moved the walker to where she couldn’t reach it, so as to avoid a potential fall. But one time she just stubbornly got out of bed at night and used a TV Tray stand to go to the bathroom.
Beverly was OCD. Her house was spotless and tidy all the time. Jan said growing up you could eat off the floor. When she cooked she would wield a spatula in one hand and a rag in the other. She loved to bake, but even after baking her kitchen was spotless. Her son-in-laws might tease her from time to time, messing with her stuff, moving items when she wasn’t looking just a little bit to the right or to the left. She would immediately move the tweaked item right back to its proper spot. If you kept doing it, she might tell you to knock it off.
She was fastidious. And paid a lot of attention to decorating for each holiday. She had Christmas decorations, Halloween Decorations. Fourth of July decorations.
She liked savoring life’s still moments as well. She would just sit and truly enjoy her coffee. Everyone had to wait till she was all done with her coffee to leave. So, if out to a restaurant, the family learned to order her coffee before they ordered dessert. She savored those pleasurable moments, like downing a good glass of sauerkraut juice…straight from the jar.
Beverly could be a bit of a flirt. She seemed to especially like it when the men, like her granddaughter’s boyfriends, flirted back with her. In her last year, Bill had hair responsibilities and she joked that she had just had her hair done by “Sir William”.
She definitely had a sense of humor. One time she was with family and friends on vacation. They were all in the pool. All of the sudden, Beverly declared she was getting a bit water-logged and reached into her bathing suit and pulled out her prosthetic boob and squeezed out all the water and put it back in her bathing suit.
Her grandkids remember a humorous moment when they were about 12, 10 and 7? when Bill and Jan went to the Bahamas and Grandma and Grandpa came to babysit. In the morning, Grandma couldn’t get out of the water bed and would slosh around grunting “Whoa!, Whoa! No!” trying to get over the side.
Beverly was fierce in maintaining and fostering connection with her people. She remembered everyone’s birthdays. She sent birthday cards. She was really good about sending Christmas cards and calling people. She would call children of friends of hers - friends who had long passed. When Beverly made friends she kept her friendships for life. She had a best friend, Marianne, who was a year older. They had known each other since they were in the 2nd grade. Evelyn is another friend, a fellow Ballard Beaver, who she had known since High School.
She was also proud of her Norwegian heritage. She was active in Daughters of Norway.
Beverly was very proud of her marriage to Ken. Until he passed in 2011 they were married for 62 years. She was proud of not just the longevity of their marriage but the success of their marriage. They were fond of each other. They were affectionate and always showed that they really liked each other.
But she fired Ken from lawn mowing after he didn’t fulfill his end of the bargain and trim the bushes down to the third lawn level. She let out a curse and threw the lawn mower up to the next level out of frustration.
Beverly was adopted and her early home life was not without struggles. So she always thought of herself as having created her family; she built the family that she didn’t have for herself. Her being adopted was something that she really bonded with Skip over because he was also adopted. Skip to this very day blames Beverly for his girth; saying she was a great cook and he was a great eater. They had kindred spirits.
I’ll leave it to Stacy to tell all the wonderful Nordstroms stories. Point out that the casket is looking mighty like a Nordstrom Box - complete with a silver ribbon. The Early Access Nordstrom Anniversary sale ironically starts today?
Diane said that she inherited from her mother a certain lack of coordination. In elementary school Diane was playing a rough game of Dodge Ball and she fell and banged her chin really hard. It hurt her badly and caused her chin to look like she had a little goatee. She went home completely expecting her mother to rush to comfort her and instead Beverly started cracking up upon seeing Diane. It would have been traumatic if she hadn’t known that her mother loved her.
Jan said that in her last caregiving year with Beverly, she developed a whole new relationship with her mother. Beverly let her prim and proper guard down. She would tell Jan that she really loved her.
She had a special relationship with each of her grandchildren. She was always just present in their lives. She loved to shop sales with Heidi. And shop prudently with Stacy. She liked to sit with Cory and engage him cerebrally.
Beverly will be remembered for her fierce love of family. She always looked forward to getting together. She never met a stranger or forgot a birthday – you could count on a card and/or a call for any special occasion.
She will be remembered for her signature smell; her perfume. She wore Clinique Aromatic Elixir. Her children and grandchildren swear that if they ever want to remember her, one spritz of the Elixir will powerfully bring her back.
She will be remembered, in the words of her own husband, as being one “tough old bird”. Toward the end the hospice nurses declared, “Your mother is only going out on her own terms.” We know for certain that Beverly Hansen did not leave this planet until she was ready.
Beverly deemed it time to pass away on July 31, 2020. On that day she decided she did not need her Super Limping Powers any longer. She was 90 years old.
Beverly was preceded in death by her loving husband, Ken.
She is survived by daughters Diane Wright (with Skip) and Jan Vance (with Bill);
her grandchildren Stacy Vance (with Cory Smith), Heidi Brown and Cory Vance; and her great-grandson Aidan Brown.
She also had a large extended family, including two step-grandchildren, 11 step-great-grandchildren and six step-great-great-grandchildren.
We will miss this amazing woman, Beverly. But we will treasure the memory of her deeply in our hearts, forever.
A service was held Friday, Aug. 14, at 10 AM to view please visit:
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Providence Hospice and Home Care of Snohomish County or the American Cancer Society:
https://donate3.cancer.org/?lang=en&_ga=2.43783724.847558195.1596650981-1169942208.1596650981
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18