Eleanor Beveridge

1921 - 2023

Eleanor Belford Beveridge, a recent nine-year resident of the Eastern Shore (Cambridge and Easton, MD), entered Jesus's presence early in the morning on Tuesday, September 5th. She was born in Shavertown, PA, in 1921, the youngest of six children. Music and laughter filled her family home. She loved to sing. Eleanor and two of her sisters comprised a trio that sang in churches throughout Susquehanna Valley, including a live weekly radio broadcast of gospel music. She was a 1940 graduate of Kingston Township (PA) High School.

Eleanor married the love of her life, Robert (Bob) Beveridge, Jr. of Minersville, PA, in October of 1943 in Kingston, PA, settling in the Harrisburg area where Robert served in the war effort as an aircraft welder. After the birth of their first child, they moved back to Bob's hometown of Minersville, where their second child was born, and they remained there for seven years. Little Primrose Chapel provided a loving center for their lives, populated as it was by extended family and life-long friends.

"Bob and Eleanor" birthed four children in all: Fred and Judi, after which, in 1953, the family moved to Ewing, NJ, where the two youngest children were later born: Donald and Janice. Fred married Addie (Smith) of Foxboro, MA, who gave them three grandchildren: Kristen, Jason, and Aaron. Judi married Don Schleiden of Pittsburgh and gave them three more: Jennifer, Craig, and Jeremy. Donald married Gale (Wood) of Concord, NH, and added a son, James. The youngest, Janice, married Scott Petrie of New Hope, PA, rounding out Eleanor's "grands" with Megan, Brandon, and Kira Beth. Sixteen great-grandchildren were added in the years to follow.

As the Church was always the center of family life, Eleanor continued to use her musical gifts in the service of the worship of God. Her greatest delight and ministry was her expanding family, helping them maintain a strong bond even as they married, bore children, and moved apart. In 2005, her husband of nearly 62 years went to be with the Lord. She lived independently in her home in Ewing until she was 93.

In 2014, Eleanor joined her two sons in Cambridge, where she lived happily for five years in a lovely condo overlooking the marinas, crab boats, and the Cambridge drawbridge. At the age of 98, she entered Bayleigh Chase Assisted Living in Easton, where she came to be known and loved by staff and residents for her faith, happy demeanor, and contagious laugh. Eleanor devoted herself to the Lord Jesus, made deep friendships, read the Bible daily, and was a woman of prayer. The Lord called her into his presence at 102 years and four months after a brief decline in health. A celebration of her is planned for family and friends on Saturday, November 4th, in Cambridge (details to follow - theobev@gmail.com).