Beverley Joan Nielson passed away June 27, 2024 with family at her side.
Born on March 3, 1933 to Muriel (née Berry) and Frank Wilson. She grew up in Vancouver B.C. along with her sister Janice and graduated from John Oliver High School. During Sports Day in grade 12 she met Ronald Nielson who swept her away in his shiny new red convertible. They married the following year, 1952, and were loving partners for 50 years until Ron’s death in 2002.
The young couple embraced an entrepreneurial spirit, moving with their three children to Point Roberts, Washington in 1963 where they started the family business, Nielson Lumber and Supply. Beverley assisted with deliveries and was the first bookkeeper. As Ron’s partner and champion, together they expanded their business interests which included opening the Point Roberts Shell gas station. Over the years, they built four homes on the Point which expressed their love of construction and design.
Beverley was a wonderful homemaker known for her sense of style, entertaining and serving up family meals with flair. As a young mother she took advantage of the Northwest’s natural bounty to stock the kitchen pantry with her home-made berry jams, fruit preserves, apple sauce, and canned salmon caught by local fisherman. She took her children beach combing as well as hunting for oysters and Dungeness crab. Birthday parties were celebrated on the driftwood shores at Lily Point. Her undisputed special talent, however, was dessert making, especially pie crust. Her pies were filled with wild blueberries foraged in Delta, blackberries, apples (and occasionally huckleberries) that were hand-picked on the Point.
As a model for the LM Modeling Agency in Vancouver, Beverley became an admitted clothes horse. “Bev’s Closet” became a cherished destination for her extended family. She cultivated an elegant, understated sense of dress.
She valued modesty, eschewed controversy and on occasion would reveal a wicked sense of humor to family and friends.
Beverley and Ron eventually became snowbirds, enjoying their winter residence in Palm Desert, California. Her passion was golf. She was an inaugural “lifetime” member of the Ironwood Golf and Country Club in Palm Desert and was a past president and active member of the Women’s Club at the Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen, B.C. One of her proudest moments was teeing off on opening day at the Point Roberts Golf Course, which she and Ron worked tirelessly to develop.
She loved Point Roberts and cultivated friendships with the early pioneers as well as summer residents. A longstanding member of Trinity Community Lutheran Church, her finger sandwiches were appreciated at the social gatherings after services. She was a regular mahjong and bridge player and a book club enthusiast. She will be deeply missed by her three children: Brenda, Kristen, Lorne (Karen); grandchildren: Benjamin, Michael (Russell), Allan (Charity), Heather, Isabella and Jack and great grandchildren: Penelope, Conor, Emma, Annabelle, Vivienne and Marcus. She will be interred next to her husband Ron in the Point Roberts Cemetery.
