Beverley Taylor Sorenson

April 13, 1924 ~ May 27, 2013
Beverley Taylor Sorenson passed away on a gentle morning, Memorial Day, May 27, 2013. She leaves a legacy of love to children everywhere. Her own children arise and call her blessed.
Beverley was born in Salt Lake City on an Easter morning, April 13, 1924, brightening the lives of her goodly parents, Bessie Elinor Taylor and Frank Campbell Taylor. She was the fifth of six children. Beverley described her charmed childhood saying; "My little mother wove a magic web throughout … that left a silver lining for all who lived within. The house radiated a feeling of belonging and comfort. In the summer, freshly picked flowers graced the tables and in the winter a big grate fire was a nightly gathering spot for a chapter read from Black Beauty or Little Lord Fauntleroy. Music rang through each room, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, all the classics. That is why I love them so now."
So nurtured, Beverley's childhood shaped her spiritual soul. She valued this "precious up-bringing" and was determined to "see this same pattern and example perpetuated into the next generation." She has.
Beverley was a daydreamer who always "looked for the good" and saw her dreams crystallize into goals, which she met. When she was very young she wrote them down: Go to college; Save $1,000; Be a kindergarten teacher; Marry; Become a mother (in that order). She accomplished all of those goals and magnified each one in extremity. She began early. In 1938, at the age of 14 Beverley was taking dance lessons with Pete Christensen and playing piano for the Jean Renae dancing school, which was across the street from her school, Irving Junior High. She played 2-3 hours after school and 4-6 hours on Saturdays for 50 cents an hour. Later she worked at the U.S. Post Office, adding to her savings. By the time she had graduated from East High School and then the University of Utah in the spring of 1945, she had saved her $1,000 and boarded a train for New York City where she would teach kindergarten at a Quaker school.
The idyllic life she left in Salt Lake City took a thrillingly dramatic turn when she met James LeVoy Sorenson at the LDS Manhattan Ward. He proposed to Beverley on their third date and they were married the next summer, sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan Temple on July 23, 1946. Beverley then became the woman, the wind beneath the wings of a man who soared with eagles. She also began her divine calling, making a career as a full-time mother, which mothering extends well beyond the reach of her beautiful eight children. Jim and Beverley settled in Salt Lake City, raised their children and celebrated nearly 62 years of marriage before his death on January 20, 2008. Throughout her life, Beverley has served actively in the LDS church, remaining valiant to her covenants. Hers is a living testimony of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As her children grew, Beverley became involved in several entrepreneurial endeavors, such as helping her son revive Ex-Cel-Cis Cosmetics, a fledgling cosmetic and personal care products company. A dedicated philanthropist, Beverley supported numerous worthy causes through her family's Sorenson Legacy Foundation. Throughout her later years, one of her greatest life passions combined her enduring love of education and the arts. This led to the creation of Art Works for Kids, a springboard she used to fulfill her vision of integrating arts into elementary education. In 2008, the Utah State Legislature helped make her long-standing dream a reality by adopting the arts-focused teaching model she and her team developed and naming it the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program in her honor. Beverley's attitude was always one of active participation rather than passive observation, which is clearly reflected in her efforts as she led a team of advocates to guarantee that arts played an important role in the education of students, teachers, principals and others to ensure the best possible education was provided.
Beverley is beloved by a living legacy of eight children, 49 grandchildren and 65 great-grandchildren. Bound to her eternally are; Carol Smith, Shauna (Ralph) Johnson, Jim (Krista) Sorenson, Ann (Gary) Crocker, Joan (Tim) Fenton, Joe (Kathleen) Sorenson, Gail (Thom) Williamsen, and Christine (Dale) Harris. She is preceded in death and greeted with rejoicing by both of her parents; husband James LeVoy Sorenson; son-in-law Doug Smith; and siblings, Virginia Bradford, Joe Taylor, Helen Johannesen, June Matheson, and Robert Taylor.
A viewing will be held Thursday, May 30, 2013 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary (3401 Highland Dr. in Salt Lake City). A second viewing will be held Friday, May 31 from 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. at the Big Cottonwood Stake Center (1750 Spring Lane, Salt Lake City). Funeral services will follow at noon at the Big Cottonwood Stake Center.
We are awed and inspired by the Christ like example of our angel mother and hope to see the "seeds that she planted continue to grow and flourish despite the changing values of the modern world." Her beacon of light and love will shine through eternity.