Ernestine “Ernie” Bever, 93, of Boone and formerly of Perry passed away Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, at the Westhaven Community in Boone, Iowa.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, Feb. 25 at 11 a.m. at the First Christian Church in Perry. Visitation will be prior to the service, beginning at 10 a.m. Burial will be at the Elmwood Cemetery near Minburn.
My Life by Ernie Bever
My name is Ernestine Junior Bever. I was born on May 29, 1929, in Des Moines, Iowa, to my parents, Ernest and Alberta Clair. I am the eldest of seven children.
My mother was a housewife, and my father worked for the railroad.
I have or had two sisters and four brothers.
I graduated from De Soto School in De Soto, Iowa, in June 1947.
I met my husband, Darrell Bever, at a basketball tournament where I was playing in Van Meter, Iowa. I was a sophomore in high school, and he was going to CCCC College in Des Moines. We became engaged when I was a junior.
When I graduated, I moved to Des Moines with a girlfriend, and we lived in a sleeping room in a home in Des Moines. We both worked at Meredith Publishing Co., and we just had a block to walk to work.
I later quit there and went to work at Bankers Life, and from there I went to work at Iowa Medical Service (BC&BS). I worked there until I moved in with Darrell’s parents and commuted to work.
Darrell and I got married on July 4, 1948.
After we had all our children in school, I found a job at the Iowa National Guard at Camp Dodge. I worked there for 24 years and was transferred to the office of Veterans Affairs and worked there until my retirement in 1995.
We moved from the farm to a home we purchased in Minburn in 1969.
Darrell and I had five children. The eldest, Debra Jean, now of Texas, a son, Ronald Dean, who passed away Feb. 1, 2019, a son, James Dale (and Kathy) of Boone, a son, Steven Lee (and Donna), of Des Moines and a daughter, Diane Marie (and Jim), now of Ames. We have 12 grandchildren, 20+ great-grandchildren and eight+ great-great-grandchildren.
Memorials will be given to Perry Food Pantry or First Christian Church in Perry and may be left at the Carris Family Funeral Home and Cremation Care. Online condolences may be left at www.carrisfuneralhome.com.
