Beverly Alice Brekke Chezik was born in Havre, Montana on October 16, 1928 to Eddie Brekke and Carrie Jackson Brekke, and grew up in Harlem, Montana in the loving midst of a large and close-knit extended family. She graduated from high school in Harlem and then attended York College in Nebraska, studying psychology. Prior to her marriage, Bev lived in Harlem, Bozeman and Spokane.
Beverly was married to Lawrence John Chezik on September 7, 1957 in Bozeman, Montana. They had two children, Jane Taniel and John Lawrence. They had been married for 57 years when Lawrence passed in 2015. During the years of their marriage, they moved many times due to Larry’s job as a
Chief Bridge Engineer for the State of Montana. Among the communities they lived in were Lavina, Chinook, Culbertson, Ronan, Helena, Missoula, Cascade and Plains, where they settled in order to be near Carrie and Eddie. During their final years, Bev and Larry moved to Colorado to be close to Jane.
Beverly was proud of her family and her Norwegian heritage. She never quite got used to Denver, and much preferred the smaller Montana towns she came from. She was very talented artistically and dabbled in oil painting, carving, spinning wool, sewing and creating scale replicas of buildings for their model railroad, along with other crafts. She was a scout leader for her children. Beverly liked gardening and had a greenhouse and a large composting wheel. She did a lot of home canning. Beverly painted “Christmas windows” on their home every year, using tempera paints. These were on large picture windows and portrayed elaborate recreations of nativity scenes. They were very realistic. In her 70s and 80s Beverly did a lot of oil paintings of scenery and animals. She liked camping and exploring old ghost towns. She loved to swim. She and Larry did projects together which included film developing and printing, model railroading, constructing ship models and building just about anything you can imagine. Lawrence was a disabled veteran, and Beverly cared for him devotedly until the end, which wasn’t always an easy task. She had a strong Christian faith and felt at peace before her passing. She was a wonderful mother and friend to her children.
Beverly made the choice about a year after Larry’s passing to enter an assisted living facility. She said that staying with her children was too boring while they were working – she wanted to play bingo and be around other people more. She had a large one-bedroom apartment just one mile from Jane’s home. It was here that she contracted the coronavirus after isolating for nearly five months, probably brought in by an employee. Up until this time, Beverly was very independent, taking care of her own needs except for meds. She walked without even a cane, and was very feisty. She did a lot of adult coloring books, making of puzzles and reading. Beverly suffered from Alzheimer’s, which mostly affected her short-term memory. She knew everyone and was able to function fairly well.
Beverly passed away at the age of 91 on July 23, 2020 in the hospital from the Covid-19 virus. She passed peacefully and without pain in the presence of her children. She will be buried in Helena, Montana alongside her husband.
Beverly is survived by her daughter Jane Hadjimaleki (and husband Behzad), her son John Chezik (and wife Kwai Sim), her grandchildren Sohayla Allen, Shaheen Hadjimaleki, Sara Chezik and Steven Chezik, and her great-grandchildren Madeleine Allen and Gavin Allen. She is also survived by her sister Arlowyn Gunning and by her brothers Dwight Brekke and Lloyd Brekke, along with many nieces, nephews and cousins.
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