Beverly Joan "Bev" Kingery

Beverly Joan “Bev” (Baumer) Kingery passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, in Fox Point, Wisconsin, at the age of 86. She was preceded in death by her parents Vern and Zenith (Jackson) Baumer, her loving husband Ronald “Ron” Kingery, her younger sister Nancy (Baumer) Kingery and her brother-in-law Bob Kingery. She was the loving mother to Michele (Kingery) Niermann and Lisa Kingery, mother-in-law to Kurt Niermann and Manoj Raghavan, and the proud grandma of Mikaela and Katie Niermann and Gwena and Juli Raghavan. She will be dearly missed by them, as well as by her brother Larry Baumer and his wife Angie, her sister Sally Kramer and her husband Bob, and many nieces, nephews, friends and other relatives.

Bev was born in Belvidere, Illinois, on July 4, 1939. She attended Belvidere High School, where she played clarinet and performed in the marching band. Shortly after graduating in 1957, she landed a position as a bookkeeper at Belvidere National Bank. Precise and particular by nature, she thrived in this role and worked at the bank for more than 40 years. She had a passion for balancing accounts and spotting errors in bank ledgers—few people could run a print calculator as fast as Bev.

Bev also began volunteering with the USO after graduating high school. As part of her service, she wrote to a serviceman stationed overseas. The man she wrote to became her husband of 64 years. Whatever she put in those letters remains a mystery—but after Ron returned to the States following Army service in Korea, he came to Belvidere to meet her and propose. They were married at Zion Lutheran Church on September 20, 1958, and settled in Belvidere, where they raised their family.

Bev was a superfan in the best sense of the word. She was a lifelong Yankees fan, and neighbors could hear her cheering (and shouting) at the TV all summer long. In the mid-1990s, her brother taught her the rules of football and basketball, and she instantly became a Chicago Bears and Chicago Bulls devotee. She was a booster for her alma mater, the Belvidere High School Bucs, and attended home football games no matter the weather. Later, she loved cheering on her granddaughters at soccer matches—always the loudest one in the crowd.

She also loved games and was nearly unbeatable at Scrabble; she and her sister-in-law were known to spend entire weekends playing game after game. Bev had a soft spot for drum and bugle corps performances and musicals, and she was a superfan of her kids and grandkids too—carrying pictures of them, along with notes and stories they wrote, and proudly sharing them with friends and even strangers.

Bev loved decorating, especially at Christmas. She never said no to a craft fair, and she made the holidays an over-the-top extravaganza, with decorations on every level of the house. She loved her hometown of Belvidere and gave back through the PTA and her church women’s group. Bev ran a tight ship and kept everything in order. She was too nervous to drive herself, but she was a talented backseat driver. She had a wide circle of lifelong friends, yet was always eager to make a new one. In retirement, she and Ron loved going on bus tours—Ron to see the places, and Bev to meet the people.

A memorial service and celebration of Bev’s life will take place at Zion Lutheran Church in Belvidere, Illinois, on January 24, 2026, at 2:00 pm, with visitation beginning at 1:30 pm. Refreshments will follow the service. Memorials in Bev’s name can be made to www.FoodRight.org or to the Belvidere Bucs Boosters Club 1500 East Ave., Belvidere, IL, United States, IL Questions can be directed to her daughter at lkingeryrd@gmail.com.

The Kingery family would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to the dedicated staff at Azura Assisted Living and Memory Care in Fox Point, WI, for providing loving support and care during difficult times. We are deeply grateful.