Lou's mother Beverly passed away on March 19th after a short illness at her daughter Jeanne's home in Caseville with her family by her side.  The following eulogy was written by Lou and read at her funeral by her grand-daughter Christine.  A lone bagpiper played at both the funeral service and at the cemetary.  His final song was "Amazing Grace".

Beverly Jean Johnson was born to Trevor and Margaret Sylvester on June 13th, 1924 in Flint, Michigan. Her childhood wasn't an easy one, having lost her father at age 11 and her mother at age 17. Her younger brothers, Joseph and Donald fell under her and Grandmother Julia's care. She had lost her only sister Delores, aged 6, to a childhood illness.

Beverly married Leroy Johnson on July 31st, 1943 at the young age of 19 and together they began building their family and had 4 children: Leroy, Gary, Jeanne and Louie. 

They struggled long and hard, as many young families of their time had to during and after World War two. During the war, while Roy was away at war, Beverly worked at AC Spark Plug, often side by side with sister in laws who also married other of the infamous 'Johnson' boys.

She worked with her husband Roy to build the family business, often cooking breakfast for the many workers who would gather at their home to get their job assignments for the day. She handled the office duties late into the night until, after several years the business was up and running. They worked hard for many years and were able to retire in their early 50's. It was a pivotal time in their lives, and for their children, who saw the love of their parents renewed. They enjoyed many happy years of retirement together, both in Florida and in Caseville. The family thought they had lost her at one point when she suffered a massive brain aneurysm in 1991, but she battled her way back and beat all the odds. Beverly often 'beat the odds', and proved it at many a casino in her later years. Sadly, she lost Roy, her husband of 50 years, in November of 1993.

Beverly went through a dark period in mid-life, perhaps the weight of the struggles and the past, too much to bear, but emerged finally as a women with a love of travel and thirst for knowledge. She often read 3 newspapers a day and read many books. Her favorites were mysteries. Her travels took her to the castles and cathedrals of Europe, the islands of the Mediterranean, the camel markets and bazaars of Northern Africa as well as the islands of the Caribbean and parts of South America. In her later years, she enjoyed sitting by a turf fire in a seaside cottage or castle on the southern coast of Ireland, listening to Irish radio and reading the Irish newspapers. She was as aware of world affairs as she was of affairs at home. Her love of travel continued until just 2 months ago when she made a trip to the Caribbean. While her spirit was eager, her body was failing and the trip had to be cut short.