Bev Sevier

Bev Sevier, Amherst, MA

Born in Baltimore MD to Horace and Kay (Meyer) Sevier.

It is with the saddest and most heavy heart, I share that Bev Sevier, the most gentle, lovely, funny, and beautiful soul, passed away very peacefully and easily on Thursday afternoon, February 29, 2024, after her very long struggle with Alzheimer’s, which by then had robbed her of everything, except her natural beauty and wonderful self, which never went. Having Bev in my life, and being together, for over 50 years, was the best thing that ever happened to me, along with the birth of our daughter, Lily Kaye Sevier. Bev’s loss is the most tragic and unbelievable thing in my life.

Bev was an elementary school special education teacher for over 30 years. After graduating with a master’s degree in special education, Bev served as a special education teacher at the Round Valley Elementary School in the very rural town of Covelo, 180 miles northeast of San Francisco, and deep within the beautiful Mendocino County National Forest. Moving with Phil back to Massachusetts, Bev joined the exceptional teaching staff at Hawlemont Elementary School in Charlemont, MA, where she was a special education teacher for 11 years, from 1982–1993, and became a member of the “Soup Group.” She loved teaching there and being part of a great team that won a Presidential Educational award, signed by Ronald Reagan, in 1986. After moving to Millers Falls, Bev was a special education teacher at Northfield Elementary School for one year, before serving as a special education teacher at Mark’s Meadow Elementary School in Amherst, MA, where she was remained part of another exceptional team of teachers and paraprofessionals from 1994 and until Marks Meadow was closed in 2010. Bev taught as a special education teacher at Wildwood Elementary School in Amherst for two more years, until retiring in 2012, after teaching 19 years in Amherst and 30 years in Massachusetts. Bev continued to tutor students with special needs privately for another 5 years or so, until the disease became too much to manage.

Born in Baltimore, Bev graduated Woodlawn High School in 1970. After initially attending the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, at age 21 Bev moved to Hempstead, NY, on Long Island, where she and two of her closest friends were living, along with Phil, the guy she eventually married (that’s me), and with whom Bev remained in the most loving relationship until she passed, 51 years later. Bev graduated with a B.A. from the City College of New York in 1976, and soon after began a lifetime interest in teaching and helping those with educational challenges. Bev worked as teacher and tutor for young people with learning, developmental, and physical disabilities, from 1977–1979 in Hempstead, NY. In 1979, with her beloved dog, Takoma, Bev headed west to attend San Francisco State University, receiving her master’s degree in the education of exceptional children in 1981. One year later, she and Phil moved to Massachusetts where they’ve lived since 1982, living in Amherst since 1994 with good friends and neighbors, and where Bev taught for 19 years, and we raised our incredible daughter, Lily Kaye Sevier. Bev’s own mother, the first Kay Sevier, died when Bev was just age 11, so becoming a mother was even more special.

Bev was a waitress for many years, and a good one, and even earned her 5-year pin from IHOP, starting there in her late teens while in high school, with more waitressing jobs to follow. Perhaps more uniquely, when living in Takoma Park, MD, from 1976 (the bicentennial year) to 1977, Bev ran the book store in the Lincoln Memorial, right inside the Memorial itself, where she was the sole employee. That Bev!

Bev’s battle with Alzheimer’s goes back many years, and was early-onset, happily taking many years to really dig deeply, but once it did, starting before the pandemic but really taking hold in early 2020, it moved relentlessly and increasingly quickly. When we needed it, we got in home help through Judy’s Angels, and later and to the very end, Pioneer Valley Hospice & Palliative Care, who were incredible in every way. It would have been far more difficult without the magnificent help and love of our great friend, care giver, and champion, Doris Oyakapeli, who stood by Bev, and Phil, every second she was there, and who was with Bev at the very end, and saw Bev leave in peace. 

Released, Bev leaves behind her husband, Phil Rich; their daughter Lily Kaye Sevier; her brothers Big Ken and Jerry Sevier and their wives, Estelle and Melissa Bane Sevier; her three step-brothers, Brad, Little Ken, and T.J., and their wives, Gay, Debbie, and Jenn; her sister-in-law Hilary Rich and husband Claudio; and her closest friends, Marguerite Millard, Marilyn Cohen, Suzanne Chollet, and Cynthia Sirkin, also known as the Baltimore Girls’ Club, Alan Serrins (her ice cream buddy), Harold Leibovitz, and Amy Aaron and Pat Jenkins, and a host of other friends. Bev went to high school with Baltimore girls Suzanne, Marilyn, and Cynthia, Bev’s friend since middle school. They go way back. Marg’s the newcomer; they only go back 48 years.

To view a short (7 minutes, actually) video remembrance, please click here