BARTLETT, Beverly Jean (Dennis) c1935-2008

FUQUAY, BARTLETT, DENNIS, MCGINN, WIETGREFE

Posted By: K. Kittleson (email)
Date: 8/9/2008 at 10:46:19

STANWOOD, WASHINGTON — Beverly Bartlett, age 73, of Stanwood, Washington, and formerly of Charles City, Floyd county, Iowa, died on August 5, 2008 at the Josephine Nursing facility in Stanwood, Washington, of multiple medical conditions that she had been suffering with for a number of years.

Beverly is the daughter of Robert and Mary (Fuquay) Dennis, having been born in the hard times of the 1930s in Des Moines, Iowa. She lost her mother at an early age and was placed in an orphanage until 1943, when she was adopted by Cleo (McGinn) and Erwin Wietgrefe of Boyd, Chickasaw county, Iowa. The family lived on a farm, and Beverly attended the Boyd country school. When the family moved to New Hampton, Chickasaw county, Iowa, she studied at St. Joseph Parochial School and New Hampton High School. Beverly played piano and was active in band, playing the clarinet, pep club, and her favorite - the drama club. She graduated in 1952.

Beverly Bartlett’s kitchen is quiet today. The oven is cold, and the coffee pot and chairs around the kitchen table are empty. She was known for her conversation, sense of humor, baked goods, and strong, black coffee; Beverly was a warm and welcoming presence.

Beverly met her future husband, Ralph E. “Bud” Bartlett of Charles City during her senior year in high school. They eloped to Minneapolis and were married on October 13, 1952. Beverly followed Bud to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, where he was stationed, and where she worked as a secretary. Once out of the army, Bud, Beverly and baby Kerry moved to Charles City, Iowa, where Bud co-managed the Charles City Creamery with his father and mother, Ralph A. and Anne Bartlett. Beverly and Bud raised five children and hosted four foreign exchange students.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Bev was a Girl Scout leader and a teacher’s aide at Immaculate Conception School. She also worked part-time at several women’s clothing retail shops. She was a great organizer and planner, and she knew how to get things done. What her children remember most is that Mom was always home for us. She encouraged us to bring friends home and would always have something freshly baked to offer, a listening ear, and a shoulder to cry on when needed.

Her welcoming spirit was at its highest during the holiday season, when she decorated the whole house. We would go to school in the morning and return home to a winter wonderland with tabletops covered with elf-lands and miniature ice skaters, a tree that often scraped the ceiling, doorknobs adorned in foil with a bell, fresh evergreen boughs everywhere, and Christmas records playing clear through early January.

Bev, Bud and their daughter Kelley moved to Mason City, Iowa, then to Bethany, and eventually to the Seattle/Everett Washington area to be closer to their other children.

Bev created a community of friends no matter where they settled. While in Washington, she collected teddy bears and had several teddy-bear picnics with her granddaughter Caitlyn Rose. Bev also wrote stories about the secret lives that each of her teddy bears lived, to the amusement of her children and the delight of her grandchildren. She was passionate that all people and animals be treated well.

Bev encouraged her children to live life with an open heart and mind. She always maintained a positive attitude and passed that along to us as well. We are comforted that in her passing she will again be with her beloved “Bud” and that once again they will be the “Bartlett Pair.”

Beverly is survived by her five children: Kelley, Karol, Kay, Kim and Kerry; by their spouses: Chris, Marguerite, George, Gregory, Vivian; and by four grandchildren: Caitlyn, Lee, Robert and Matthew.

[Original obituary posted on Charles City Press online, Aug. 7, 2008]