Oct. 5, 1960 - Jul. 13, 2024
Date of Service: Jul. 20, 2024
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Service Program
Beverly King
Remember me with smiles and laughter,
for that is how I will remember you all.
If you can only remember me with tears,
Then don’t remember me at all.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder
RUPERT – Beverly King, 63, was called home Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Provo, Utah, surrounded by many of her family members. While we will miss her, we are also grateful her earthly suffering has passed and she is reunited with so many loved ones.
Bev was born October 5, 1960, in Burley, Idaho, the fifth of Vern William and Alyce Amelia Bair King’s six children. She was raised on the family homestead farm north of Rupert, Idaho, where her sisters doted on her and her brothers picked on her and she loved every minute. She had a vivid imagination and loved to play make-believe. She truly was a light to her family.
She graduated from Minico High School and Ricks College. While in Rexburg, her claim to fame was being the first female employee of the Ricks College bowling alley. She later earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Brigham Young University.
Her knack for teaching came early in life, and her mother knew she was destined for the classroom when she found Bev trying to teach cows to sing at age four. She officially began her career at Memorial Elementary, in the same first-grade classroom where she herself was a student. She taught there for four years and received the Idaho Conservative Teacher of the Year award in 1984. She later moved to Utah and taught 30 years at Welby Elementary. During that time, she taught first, fourth, and fifth grade, with fifth being her favorite.
Bev said when she dreamed, she would see all the kids she taught. In over three decades of teaching, Bev taught 968 students and she loved every one…well, almost every one. She prayed each day to see how she could help each child. She named them specifically in her prayers so Heavenly Father could guide her.
Bev enjoyed performing in plays and musicals. Once she had to learn all her lines in two days because the original actress got injured and ended up in the hospital, unable to perform. Rising to the challenge, Bev filled in and played the role perfectly. Her musical talents were showcased on a larger stage as well when she first came to Utah and sang with the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus. Her dream was also to sing in the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, but her poor health prevented that. It was also in Utah where she met and married Charles Louis Kinsey in 1988. Their only son, Charles Vern Kinsey, was born the following year. The marriage later ended in divorce. Charlie was the light in Bev’s life, and that was doubled when he married Naomi Angela Fortner. Bev considered Naomi to be her daughter in every way possible.
Along with her children and students, Bev had a special relationship with all 28 of her nieces and nephews and she loved them dearly. Bev was always up for an adventure and an ice cream cone, and many fond memories were made when Bev took them on special outings when they were young. She had the ability to make everyone feel like her favorite. She maintained those relationships as everyone grew and spread out and Bev enjoyed being involved and informed about each of their lives. She lived for visits, phone calls, cards, and texts from all her family. She was known for her Aunt Bev Bear Hugs and giving silly and borderline-inappropriate bridal shower gifts.
After retiring from teaching, Bev moved to Price to be closer to her son. She lived at Heirloom Inn where she held Bev’s Hour each week, singing songs according to the holiday and time of year and encouraging the residents to sing along with her. Once again, her spunky personality and ever-ready, beautiful smile lightened the loads of those around her.
Her health struggles forced her to move to Stonehenge of Springville, where she could receive the constant medical care she needed. Her family is so grateful for all those who cared for her and loved her until the end. Bev was always upbeat, cheerful, and happy–trying to lift others even when she was in pain.
So fun to be around, Bev was often the life of the party and always had us laughing. She loved a good pun. She enjoyed old movies, especially westerns, and her favorite movie of all time was “Gone With the Wind.” (You can tell she also loved a good romance). She liked pumpkin pie, butterflies, rainbows, and dust devils. She always wanted to be a tornado chaser and said she would come to her own funeral only if there was not a tornado brewing somewhere in the world.
Bev is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Charlie and Naomi Kinsey of East Carbon, Utah; sister-in-law, Renee (Robert-deceased) King of West Jordan, Utah; siblings, Ronda (Kent) Dalton of Tucson, Arizona, Mark (Kitty) King of Oakley, Utah, and Marla (Mike) McLeod of Acworth, Georgia. Bev was preceded in death by her parents, Vern and Alyce King; her sister, Bernice King; and her brother, Robert King.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, July, 20, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Rupert Idaho Stake Center, located at 324 E. 18th St., in Rupert, where family and friends will be received from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Officiating will be Bishop Boyd Bingham. Burial will follow at Rupert Cemetery.
A live webcast of the Funeral Service will be available and maintained at the following link: https://youtu.be/LeKuBbrlQNI.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home of Burley, Idaho.
