Beverly Joyce Wood Norton, 69

Of Ava Beverly Joyce Wood Norton, 69, of Ava, formerly of Orem, Utah, passed away in the early morning hours of June 6, 2006, in Springfield, due to complications following surgery.

Beverly was born May 28, 1937, in Los Angeles, Calif., the older of two children of Sidney Jay and Lola M. Garrett Wood. She graduated in 1955 from Bellflower (Calif.) High School and attended two semesters at Wayne State Teacher’s College in Wayne, Neb. It was there that she met Jack William Norton, Sr., of Youngstown, Ohio. They were married on July 17, 1956 in Portuguese Bend, Calif.

Beverly and her family were introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were baptized in 1967. She and Jack were sealed in Oakland, Calif. temple the following year.

The mother of 10 children, Beverly was widowed at the young age of 39. She summoned up the courage to not just carry on, but to excel. She went to work as a custodian at Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) and earned her associate of science degree. She then transferred to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and completed her bachelor’s degree in family history, a master of library science degree, and a second masters in history. She secured employment in the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU and after 20 years of service retired as a senior librarian.

Beverly’s first passion was family history and as a convert to the LDS Church, the “field was white already to harvest.” She was a professional genealogist over several years; she also assisted literally thousands of other individuals in the research of their family lines. She is a past-president of the Utah Genealogical Society.

Upon retirement to Missouri, Beverly, along with her son Steven, pursued her second passion, that of raising show dogs. She took great delight in their successes.

Beverly is survived by her children, Timothy (Mary Price), Margaret (Frank) Wood, Nancy (Lance) Stallings, Liza (Mike) Jones, James, Jack William Jr. (Telisa Puriri), Steven, Christopher (Kristin Everts), and David (Michele Nieman); 31 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother, Lewis J. Bud Wood (Elaine Hansen). She was pre-deceased by her parents, her husband, Jack, and her daughter Diane.

Beverly was buried beside her parents in Orem City Cemetery, Utah on Monday June 12, 2006.

Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ava.