Beverly Groening, 94, passed away December 29, 2016, in Tumwater, WA, with her two children at her side. She was born Beverly Jayne Crandell in 1922 in Three Rivers, Michigan to Leland and Marjorie Crandell. Beverly attended the University of Michigan, where she met her future husband, Victor Groening. She graduated from college and was married in the same year, 1945.
The Groening’s moved to Seattle in the 1950s after time in Portland, OR, where Bev was a reading specialist and Vic attended dentistry school. In Seattle, Bev went on to many years of teaching at Sharples Junior High (today Aki Kurose). Bev and Vic infused their lives with adventure, including living in Japan, and traveling to far flung locations such as China and Russia.
When at home in West Seattle, Bev appreciated the simple things. She was an accomplished seamstress as well as a crafter extraordinaire. She played bridge, and was an active volunteer at the Alki Congregational Church. Bev was energetic and walked daily from her home to Alki; she had a quick, no nonsense walk and earned the nickname “Jet” Beverly.
But her true talent was gardening, and she was actively involved in the Fuchsia Club. Today, her fuchsias continue to grow in the yard of the home she built with Vic in West Seattle in 1961. Bev’s legacy lives on in the form of plants in her daughter’s and daughter-in-law’s gardens, where many transplanted cuttings have rooted and continue to blossom year after year. Each family member, including those without green thumbs, grows a portion of an iconic cactus of Bev’s that we grew up seeing every day.
Bev was pragmatic and tenacious. She also had a winking mischievous streak. She fiercely loved her children but was stoic in showing that love. However, when her son would say, “I love you, mom,” Bev would respond “I loved you first.” She had a beautiful smile and her family is grateful to have seen it often.
Bev is survived by her devoted son and daughter, Philip Groening and Marlene Groening, and their spouses, Cynthia Smith and James Kainber; and her loving grandchildren, Reid Kainber, Abram Smith-Groening, Rachel Greenley, Aaron Jones and Jim Kainber; eight great-grandchildren; and her siblings, Jacquelyn McConachie and Dr. Robert Crandell. Bev was preceded in death by her husband, Victor, in 2011.
Her family is grateful for the wonderful caregivers at The Hampton. Memorial gifts may be made in Beverly’s name to The Hampton Employee Scholarship Fund.
Share your memories of Beverly or condolences with the family at www.FuneralAlternatives.org.
Published in the West Seattle Herald section of the Westside Weekly, February 10, 2017.
