Sister Beverly Ann Nelson, CSC
(May 10, 1939 - May 5, 2010)
Please, join in prayer of thanksgiving for this Sister of the Holy Cross who died on May 5, 2010, 2010 in Saint Mary's Convent.
Quietly, peacefully, early Wednesday morning God called Beverly Ann home. There were two other life-defining calls in her life. The call to be a follower of Christ, and Bev accepted. Then God called her again to religious life as a Sister of Holy Cross, and she lived and died as one.
It was by answering the call to religious life that we met. Bev entered three years ahead of my band and was under temporary vows when she and members of her band were chosen to head the tables of the lowly postulants so as to model for us how to eat “nun-style.” Most of our meals were eaten in silence except Sundays, holy days and holidays. Bev’s table was special, for even in the silence Bev had a way of connecting with you with her smile, twinkle of the eye, or a simple jester. She was a happy sister and we wanted to be at her table.
After formation, our lives crossed many times. It was in 1974 in Mission Hills, California, at Holy Cross Hospital where we first lived together with four other sisters. Bev was the administrator of our hospital that was being rebuilt after the 1971 earthquake. Our superiors sent me there so that once again Bev could be a model for me. This time she modeled how to be a hospital administrator and how to be faithful in tending the mission of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in health care.
The sisters had a saying, “Might as well be in Cleveland,” which meant “Let’s go to the beach.” All six would jump in the car and head to the ocean. Bev usually drove; Alicia packed the sandwiches and Constant Comment Tea; and we had night prayer as we watched the sun set.
While in Mission Hills I met her mom, brother Tom, and his sons and daughters. Bev dearly loved her family and found ways to bring us into their lives.
Bev was not only intelligent and capable, but also kind and compassionate. After the earthquake, we had obligations to repay the bonds on the 1961 hospital that was destroyed. A payment on the bonds was never missed nor a payroll to the reduced-in-number but committed employees who stayed on at the hospital. The hospital was reduced from 259 beds to 72. The big vendors may have had to wait to be paid, but the small ones always were paid. We never had a lot of money, but Bev made you believe God would provide and that the hospital would be rebuilt … and it was. She had a way of making sure we could laugh among all the trials.
The convent was a happy place and she used to comment that having two sisters under 40, prepared in administration, wasn’t going to last too long. Sure enough, and a little like Moses not getting to the Promised Land, Bev was sent to Boise, Idaho, nine months before the opening of the new hospital because there was need of a CEO at Saint Alphonsus’ hospital. In 1983 Bev returned to her beloved Saint Agnes where she had spent her early days on mission.
During all this time, we remained close friends. In January 1984, I came to Saint Agnes as CEO and Bev was vice president. It was here in her beloved Fresno that she grew into the wonderful, playful and caring person we know and love, even with all the challenges life brought her. Bev would always be capable and a leader, but it was here that she further shaped her commitment to the mission, social justice and care of the poor. She loved being able to contribute to these initiatives on Trinity Health boards and committees and at Catholic Charities in Fresno. Over time she became involved in her parish, which meant so much to her.
As a child, Bev grew up loving her family, friends, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California (USC). In later years, she grew to love her God, family, sisters, friends, Fresno and USC. She never converted to that “other school.”
Bev had a wonderful cadre of friends from all walks of life. She found time to be present to each of them. She had a way of making you feel special and could write or say just the right words to touch your heart. Bev’s friendship with Melba of 44 years meant so much to her. She called her “Mrs. Toast!” Bev was loved by her family and they looked to her for strength, as heard today from her niece Katie.
Bev was always drawn to water, whether the waters of the Caribbean, on family vacations to Cancun, or to the California coast. Bev could sit for hours on the beach contemplating the sea. One time when we were on retreat and sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in, she commented that the continuous rolling of the waves to the shore is like our being continually bathed in God’s unconditional love. It is not surprising that her favorite color was ocean blue and that she loved porpoises.
Bev, in so many ways you were bigger than life, but how we loved you. And will remember you with grateful hearts that you have been a part of our lives. May she rest in peace.