Beverly L Mercer

Obituaries are boring. “So and so born this date, gone this date, survived by this person (nee some spouse’s maiden name).

Our mother was not boring; far from it. “She loved people and loved life!” are words nobody has ever used to describe our mother. Indeed, unless you were family (and sometimes if you were), our mom would treat you with hostility.

Let me pause for a moment. This is not one of those “we hate our mother and we’re going to trash her publicly” type of obituaries. If that’s what you’re into, stop reading now and move on to other Internet entertainment. Our mother was a spitfire for sure. To sugarcoat who she was would be an insult to her memory and we actually have genuine fear that she would come back to life just to give us a knuckle to the head and make us tell her story more truthfully.

Our mom did not suffer “idiots” or tolerate people who tested her short patience. In fact she actually embraced, and was even proud of, her dislike for other people. I mean, how do you get kicked out of a nursing home?!

She lived a hard life, a life that forged her into someone even harder. But it also shaped her shrewdness, her tenacity, and her personality. She was never a mom who coddled; quite the opposite. From her we learned the importance of working hard for what you want, being honest when it comes to money, having an unimpeachable work ethic, and all of us siblings have inherited her dark and twisted sense of humor.

Growing up we would frequently hear the following phrases:

“Go ahead cry, you won’t have to pee so much!”
“It’s slicker than a snot on a doorknob out there!”
“My mouth tastes like the bottom of a birdcage!”
“I’m busier than a cat trying to cover shit on a marble floor!”

Driving down the road she would see a sign that would say “Slow Children” and she would say, “Well, they had better speed up before I get to them!”

The list goes on and on.

She was a provider. There were times where she would be working up to three jobs just to stay a month or two behind on the rent. Most jobs were driving a school bus, big rig, or a “roach coach” catering truck to construction sites; all professions that did not warmly welcome a woman in the 70s and 80s but she was tougher than any of the men that tried to ruin her day. Despite the low pay and endless bills she always managed to make Christmases special.

She was a dog breeder. For the most part she bred and showed Great Danes but dabbled with Pekingese and Daschaunds as well. Did I mention she was tough? We’ve seen her — at five foot one — wrestle two fighting Great Danes to the ground with both of them running away with their tails between their legs afterwards. From her we obtained our love for animals and our disdain for dog shows. Our house was always filled with dogs and our weekends filled even more with dog shows. Do you know what it’s like to be a child of a dog breeder at a dog show in the 1970’s? There were no cell phones or handheld video games. Let’s just say that we often got so bored that we actually know what dog food tastes like.

She was a grandmother of Cameron and Payton. Days at her and “Grandpa John’s” house were often filled with tractor pulls, restored cars, 4 wheelers, and "fishing in the pond”; days the boys will take with them forever. In her final days she was mostly incoherent and unresponsive, as death is wont to do. However, when the boys called and she heard their voices, her eyebrows furrowed in recognition. The boys were able to say “I love you” and even though she wasn’t able to speak, I could see her mouth the words, “I love you too”.

She was a mother-in-law. Yes, one of “those” mother-in-laws. How could she not be?! But in the last few years of her life she was extremely grateful and thankful for Carrie’s and Mickey’s support. They opened their homes and hearts to our mom with the kind of unconditional love that no other spouses in the world could have offered. We are so grateful for them and the love they have shown our mother in these past few years. It was a “big job”.

She was, obviously, our mother. Out of the three of us siblings, Kim and Corey remain. Dawn got off easy and decided to leave this earth in 2023 so they’re both laughing at us now.

Lastly, and most importantly, she IS (not was) a child of God. She raised us and instilled in us the importance of knowing Jesus Christ as our personal savior. She didn’t even allow “secular” music into the home. The walls of our home were always filled with scripture and pictures of Jesus, while the air was constantly filled with Christian music — mostly Don Francisco.

Beverly Lorraine Mercer (nee Peacock) was born on May 28, 1944, lived a life that even two pages of obituary can’t even give justice to a fraction of the strange adventures we’ve had with her, and left this world into her savior’s warm and comforting embrace on April 14, 2026 with attitude.

We all loved her immensely and miss her terribly. But we look forward to seeing her again one day (hopefully not in the near future).