Beverly Elaine Meads

April 27, 1923 - February 14, 2019

Beverly Elaine (Christ) Meads passed peacefully on February 14, 2019. She was born on April 27, 1923,in Estherville, IA, to Iva Aileen (Larson) Christ Waughtal and Charles Homer Christ. She is survived by Arnold Stanley Meads, her devoted husband of 74 years, their four daughters: Elaine Delsman, Linda Shaw-Snoke, Laurel McGinley, and Susan Soriano, her half-brother Leigh Waughtal, half-sisters Mary (Christ) Thomas and Janet (Christ) Harvego, 13 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great grandchildren. Beverly graduated from Bemidji High School in Bemidji, MN. She continued her education at Commercial College in Mankato, MN, where she was also a telephone switchboard operator. Beverly was 16 years old when she met Arnold. They courted until he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and was sent to the South Pacific in July, 1942. They married when he returned home on leave to Laporte, MN in November, 1944. After a brief residence in San Diego, CA while Arnold was stationed at Camp Pendleton, they returned to Bemidji to settle down and start their family. In August of 1960, they moved to Ashland, OR and made it their permanent home. Beverly was an avid reader and devoured everything from the complete works of Shakespeare to Readers Digest. She dove into learning new skills and crafts—quilt making, painting, calligraphy, crocheting, genealogy, playing the violin and organ, singing in Melody Mothers, and learning German and French. Her proudest accomplishments were beating Arnold at cribbage and running her own Pixie Playschool from 1967-1970, introducing the children to crafts, creative play, and the best story time in town. “Anything worth doing is worth doing well” was a favorite motto and she passed this philosophy to her daughters. She corrected poor grammar heard on TV, helped edit their school essays, and taught them the “correct” way to sew (which was, inevitably, different than the sewing teachers’ methods). Aside from overseeing their education, she taught the girls to ride bikes and fly kites. She took them to plays, festivals, and sometimes as special guests to meetings and dinners at Soroptimist International of Ashland where she was a lifetime member and served as president, treasurer, secretary, and archivist. She was smart, quick witted, strong, resourceful, and a perfectionist at everything she did. She could have been anything she wanted. Fortunately for Arnold and their daughters, she chose to marry him, raise a family, and make them the center of her world. She was the center of their world, too, and will be missed dearly. Their sorrow and loss cannot be put into words. She was preceded in death by her parents and step-father, Charles A. Waughtal, her sister Shirley (Christ) Simon, half-sister Verda (Waughtal) Auberry, and her half-brothers Wayne Waughtal and Charles Christ. The family would like to thank Lolita Bell for the loving foster care she provided over the past 4 years. They also thank June Willis, one of Beverly’s favorite caregivers and Arnold’s newest cribbage partner. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Soroptimist Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 544, Ashland, OR 97520. Friends and family are invited to a celebration of Beverly’s life on Saturday, March 2nd, between the hours of 1:00pm to 4:00pm, at the home of Elaine and Joe Delsman, 555 Fairview St., Ashland.