Beverly Jean Frandsen Ph.D.

Beverly Jean Frandsen, Ph.D. (Groen, Grottkau)

April 11, 1937 to October 21, 2025

Dr. Beverly (Bev) Frandsen, born in Oakland, CA on April 11, 1937, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, in Waukesha, WI. She was the loving mother of two sons, Steven Groen of San Diego, CA and Robert (Jennifer) Grottkau, Jr. of Parrish, FL and one daughter, Michelle (Lonnie) Weis of Waukesha, WI; grandmother to Justin (Abby) Swets, Amanda (Dan) Speer, Kaitlyn (Lucas) Harding, Sara Weis and David and Leland Grottkau and great- grandmother to Ashlynn and Cameron.

Bev was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Mabel Frandsen (DePontes, Moniz) and sister, Dona Frandsen.

Bev attended Oakland High School in California and graduated in January 1955. Bev received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, her master’s degree in Educational Psychology and her PhD in Urban Education at UW-Milwaukee. Upon earning her doctorate, she moved to Racine, WI, after being offered a position of Director of both the Master’s Degree Program and the Continuing Education Program at Carthage College. There, she was particularly proud of having been instrumental in developing the Paralegal Program. During her tenure at Carthage, she was published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals, and in 1989, she was the recipient of the annual Distinguished Service Award for outstanding leadership in adult education by the Milwaukee Council on Adult Learning.

In 1990, Bev decided to make a dramatic career change, moved back to Milwaukee and, utilizing her education in her master’s and doctoral programs, became licensed as a Clinical Social Worker. For the next 20 years, she worked at Christian Counseling Services, and during her three years prior to retiring, she was employed by Associated Mental Health Consultants, both in Wauwatosa, WI. During this period of her life, she also taught for several years as an adjunct faculty member in the Educational Psychology Graduate Program at UW-Milwaukee, and, under the pen name Grottkau, she co-authored a book “Till Death Do Us Part: A Practical Guide for Women in Troubled Marriages.”

Bev loved to travel internationally. She studied at the Carl Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, lived with host families in London, England, and Odense, Denmark, delivered a paper at an international conference at the University of Lund in Lund, Sweden and taught English to Spanish-speaking professionals in Soria, Spain.

In 1988, Beverly traveled to Frankfurt, Germany and East Germany, one year prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and to Moscow and Leningrad in the Soviet Union as a delegate of the Lutheran Educational Conference of North America (LECNA), completing the trip in Helsinki, Finland.

After a long search for her Danish ancestors, in 1998, she was able to visit her cousin, Paul Erik (Hanne) Frandsen in Møgeltønder, Denmark, the place of her father’s birth.

Bev remained in private practice until she retired in 2013 at the age of 76. Following her retirement, under the pen name Frandsen, she completed an unpublished second book “A Letter to My Daughter: A Practical Guide for Marital Fulfillment in a Divorce-Friendly World.” Bev’s dedication to her work as an educator, a practitioner and as a writer has touched the lives of countless people.

The family would like to thank the staff at The Waters of Pewaukee Memory Care Unit and Brighton Hospice of Brookfield for all the care and compassion they gave Bev over the last two years and final days of her life.

We would especially like to thank “the village” that helped care for Bev: Pam from Touching Hearts, and friends Lita and Dan. Words cannot express how grateful we are for the love, compassion, and understanding you showed towards Bev.

Bev loved to sing, and we know she is singing along with her father, mother, and sister remembering every word of every song. She is greatly missed.

No service will be scheduled at this time; however, a memorial service will be held at a later date.