Obituaries
Obituaries » Joanne "Bev" Beverly Adams
Check your settings when you are happy with your print preview press the print icon below.
Show Obituaries Show Guestbook Show Photos QR Code
Joanne "Bev" Beverly Adams
May 25, 1932 - January 31, 2025
Service Location Grace Lutheran Church
Memorial Service: 12:00pm on Saturday, February 15, 2025
Visitation: one hour prior
Joanne Beverly “Bev” Adams
Joanne Beverly “Bev” Adams was born May 25, 1932, in Rutland, SD, and passed away January 31, 2025, in Apple Valley, MN. The daughter of Lawrence and Georgine (Johnson) Graff, she was a “cradle Lutheran,” and her faith stayed with her all of her days. She was the eleventh of thirteen siblings, and family was the heart of her life.
Bev spent her early days in Madison, SD, before moving to Sioux Falls, where she graduated from Washington High School in 1950. She met and married Richard W. “Dick” Adams in Sioux Falls, and they married on September 3, 1950. When the Marine Corps called Dick up to active duty for the Korean War while they were on their honeymoon, Bev was his staunch support, moving to California and facing the shortages of a wartime military base area with hard work and a cheerful smile. She brought that attitude to every job she ever had, from working in a laundry to running a heating/air-conditioning company office to managing accounts at a medical supply company.
Following Dick’s wartime service at Camp Pendleton, they returned to Sioux Falls, and in 1954 daughter Debra was born. They moved to Brooklyn Park, MN, in 1962, where Bev not only made new friends but became an indispensable part of her community. She volunteered as the wedding coordinator at Prince of Peace Lutheran for decades, was active in local and state politics, and put her many hobbies to good use for her neighbors, hosting card parties and picnics and sharing her homemade banana bread, cookies, and raspberry jam from her garden.
Her family kept growing: Deb married Dan Lingen in 1973, and they had granddaughter Marissa in 1978. In 1993 Bev and Dick retired and moved to Omaha, where they could spend more time with Deb, Dan, and Marissa, having supper together every night. In 1999, Marissa married Mark Gritter. Bev continued to love to spend time with her siblings and their children, grandchildren, and eventually great-grandchildren, with Graff Reunions and Christmas parties every year and informal gatherings more often. Bev always felt “the more the merrier,” happily including new family for her whole life. From wholeheartedly adopting Swedish son Johan to making sure neighbors had somewhere to go for holidays to embracing Deb and Marissa’s chosen families, she really was merrier with more people to love.
Family and friends were integral to two of Bev’s other passions, games and travel. She was both skillful and lucky at whatever game you wanted to put in front of her, and they were a great framework to spend time with loved ones. She also enjoyed doing puzzles together. She took many trips with her family and sometimes with friends, and her favorite destinations were southern Spain, Stockholm to see Johan, and anywhere she could visit a loved one–and given the size of her family it’s no surprise that she and Dick ended up taking Marissa to 49 of the 50 states and several foreign countries.
Bev’s lifelong gift for making friends served her well when she moved back to the Twin Cities in 2009. She threw herself into the life of the community, organizing potlucks, coffees, and birthday parties, playing all her favorite games, and even learning to use a Wii for its bowling game. Weekly puzzles or crafts with Deb, Mark, and Marissa were fit into a VERY busy schedule.
Bev is preceded in death by her beloved parents; wonderful husband, Dick; cherished son-in-law, Dan; all twelve of her brothers and sisters; and many in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. She is survived by her daughter, Deb; granddaughter, Marissa; grandson-in-law, Mark; and so many friends and family members that it would fill a phone book (though she would still want us to list every single one of you by name). She loved so many people so much, and she was so very much loved by so many in return.
Memorial Service at 12noon on Saturday, February 15, 2025, at Grace Lutheran Church, 7800 150th St. W., Apple Valley, with visitation one hour prior.
In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis (https://www.mhealthfairviewpeds.org/About-Us/Get-Involved/giving) or a charity of your choice.