STEPHEN ERNEST BEVERLIN

1956 - 2021

Stephen (Steve) Beverlin, 64, of Oroville, CA passed away in his sleep on May 9, 2021. Steve was born in Brawley and grew up in Calipatria, CA. A lifetime cowboy he started working in several local Imperial Valley cattle feed yards at a very young age, as young as 12 years old. His first job was at Alamo Cattle Feeders, Billy Meyers Feed Yard, and Ed Wiest ranches, all as a kid. While working at Alamo Cattle Feeders he helped his sisters pick out steers for their FFA projects. He then worked for Kershaw feed yard, and helped Wallace Swearingen and Phillip Kellum working pasture cattle thru out the years while in the Imperial Valley, after that he moved up to the Chino/Pomona area working on the Rance Thrall ranch. Moving around a lot as cowboys do, he and a friend took off to Nevada and worked on the biggest Spanish cattle ranch in Nevada, The Ellison Ranching Co. for a quite some time and then went back for the spring wagon gathering (branding of calves). Steve also lived in Vinita, Oklahoma for a couple of years in a shanty on the Diamond N ranch working cattle and living off the land. He also spent time working at the Hassell Cattle Company Ranch in Oklahoma. While he was there he received a degree as a Farrier (horse shoeing) from Oklahoma State University. After moving back to California, he married, had a daughter, Amy whom he loved very much and for a couple of years lived on the Irvine Ranch in CA working cattle and horses. Divorced, he then started working for Slim Hart hauling horses into Oregon. While hauling horses, he met his lifetime girlfriend Wiek (Maria) Kruitwagen from Palo Alto by chance in Yreka, CA, fell in love and have been together ever since for 30 years. Steve and Wiek bought a house in Oroville, CA on top of the mountain overlooking Lake Oroville. He worked in the rice fields and Almond orchards in and around the Oroville and Durham area. Steve always participated in the Rough and Tough Wild Horse Race during the Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo when living in the Imperial Valley. He loved his "cow dogs" and always had several companion dogs at his heels following him where ever he went, and hanging out in the back of his pick-up truck. He loved growing flowers, reading book after book and sitting on his deck overlooking the lake, feeding wild deer and foxes that would come and eat right out his hands. Steve loved it when his family and friends would come up and visit him and Wiek on his mountain. Steve was preceded in death by his parents, Willa and Frank Emanuel, Ernest Beverlin; grandparents, Claude and Martha Layne. He is survived by his lifetime girlfriend, Wiek (Maria) Kruitwagen of Oroville; daughter, Amy Beverlin of Los Angeles; sister, Claudia Goodpaster of Boston; sisters, Peggy Emanuel of Calipatria and Lynne (Cecil) Baker of Calipatria; nieces, Michelle Morris and Kristi Emanuel of San Diego; nephews, Justin Baker of Tigard, OR, and Tyrell Goodpaster of Boston, MA. Celebration of Life for Steven will be held on June 26th at 12 p.m. at the Stockmen's Club in Brawley, CA.