Beverly Nash

October 17, 1925 – June 12, 2023

Beverly Ann Nash of Rifle, CO passed away peacefully, into the arms of Jesus, on June 12, 2023 at the Grand River Care Center. She was born on October 17, 1925, in Denver, to the late Roy Turner and Melba Davis Turner. She was 97 years old. Beverly lived a vibrant and fulfilling life, touching the hearts of those she encountered along her journey. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Edwin, stepsons Terry and Rick and a sister Betty. She is survived by niece Suzette Gardner of California, niece-in-law Jan Troutman of Texas, other nieces and nephews and many friends.

Beverly was a woman who never met a stranger. She effortlessly formed connections with people from all walks of life. She had a zest for adventure and enjoyed traveling to various destinations, including Russia, Spain, the Canary Islands, and beyond.

Beverly’s last job before retiring was as a receptionist for an oil and gas company based in Houston, Texas. She had read about the Parachute and Battlement Mesa area and the retirement community that it had become so she decided to make a move to the Western Slope! She first settled on Battlement Mesa and later moved to the senior housing in Rifle. In November of 2020 Beverly transitioned to the Grand River Care Center, in Rifle, where she received exceptional care from the dedicated staff. Their compassion and support brought comfort to her during her final years.

Family and friends are invited to join in celebrating the life of Beverly Ann Nash at the Care Center on July 7, 2023 at 2 pm.

MORE IN DEPTH HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF BEVERLY ANN ‘COZY’ NASH

Beverly, also known to her many friends as ‘Cozy’ was born during a blasting blizzard at the height of the Great Depression. She grew up on the front range and at the age of about 16 she contracted a form of polio and was unable to have children. At the age of 17 her father, Roy, came home one day and announced that ‘he had joined the navy’. She and her mother, Melba, were in disbelief! They thought that he was too old, at the age of 44, to join the military. Well, Roy had been a police officer in Denver and the Navy needed police officers on the trains. So, Beve (Beverly often signed her name as Beve) and her parents loaded up and moved to Mare Island. The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco just off the coast of Vallejo, CA.

The time that Beve and her parents spent on Mare Island was during World War II. Roy actually became engaged as a Naval Petty Officer while Beve and Melba worked in the supply department at the Navy Yard. They worked every day with only 1 day off a year, Christmas. Wartime required long hours and days for the sailors and everyone who supported the war effort.

Beve said, “We had a book in the vault that told the location of every ship that was in the Pacific. I would go in there and find out where a ship was and requisition supplies for the war. It wasn’t for another 20 years that I

realized the knowledge I had.”

On one humorous occasion, a ship ordered toilet paper and there wasn’t any, so Beve sent wiping papers instead. A few years later, she ran into one of the men from that ship and he asked how that happened. She explained and he thought it was funny. The next day, he sent her a sheet cake at work with a roll of toilet paper stuck to the top of it!

Beve was one of just a handful of eligible young women living at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1942. She said “I went to town every night to dance with the sailors. Because there was such a shortage of ladies, I could only dance once with each of them”. One night while dancing with a sailor a huge explosion knocked everyone to the ground. Three ammunition ships had blown up. No one knew exactly what had happened at the time. It wasn’t long after this incident that Beve and her parents moved back to Denver.

In spite of the ammunition ships’ explosion, Beve never remembered it being a frightening place to live. The war didn’t come to the shore. In fact, some of her fondest memories were of the years she spent in California at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

Upon returning to Denver, Beve worked at the Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center where she met ‘Edwin Nash’ her soon to be husband. This took place during the Korean War. She became an instant mother and helped him raise his 2 sons.

Beve also worked for Mountain Bell where she was a long-distance operator and chief telephone operator at the University of Denver. She later worked for the Houston-based oil and gas company. She continued to work for this company for several years after her husband’s passing. During this time, she lived with her mother and cared for her until her passing. After retiring Beve was thumbing through a newspaper one day, she saw an advertisement for volunteers for The Institute of International Education. She got all tingly, and continued to tingle for ten years in the most exciting era of her life: “Potentate Paradise.” She met and entertained important persons from 37 countries, including every country in South and Central America.

Somewhere in between all of these life adventures Beve joined a traveling club and traveled to Russia, Spain and the Canary Islands and more. Of course, there were more attention-grabbing stories about those adventurous trips. She was a great story teller!

Onto the next chapter of Beve’s life. Again, after thumbing through a newspaper, she read an article about the retirement community of ‘Battlement Mesa’! She made the move and as you would expect, Beve became very involved in the community. She enjoyed frequenting Jim’s Coffee Shop to visit with all of the locals, she loved socializing! She played the part of ‘Josie’ in The Shale Country Players’ production of “The Last Train Robbery”. She also served the area through the High Country Retired & Senior Volunteer Program for 18 years.

Realizing that so many of her friends were working 9-5 jobs, Beve decided to move to Rifle to the senior housing to become part of the retired community. She very much enjoyed her small apartment and resided there until November of 2020 when it became necessary to make her final move to the E. Dene Moore Care Center which is now the new Grand River Care Center.

While residing at the care center ‘Cozy’ made many friends and shared her life experiences with them. I would say that she will not soon be forgotten. Thank you to all of the staff that cared for and spent time with ‘Cozy’.

Beverly’s niece, Suzette Gardner, remembers that Beve was very kind to her when she was down on her luck. She helped her get a job at the University of Denver where they worked side-by-side. She also remembers her as being strong-willed and stubborn at times but she always had an enormous heart and wonderful sense of humor.

Beve’s niece-in-law, Jan Troutman, remembers how Beve liked for the family to drive to Lake Dillon for picnics. It was a treat to get out of the city and go to the mountains. She also remembers that Beve, her parents and Jan and family loved to go to a family-owned Italian restaurant in Denver.

Beverly’s friend, Beth Sacher shared that Beve was a great conversationalist in that she was a good listener, story teller, and took interest in others and could show great compassion. Her wit was amazing and she had great ability to strike up humorous conversation even with strangers. Beth admired Beve’s self-assuredness. Beve described herself as a food snob, but Beth saw her as a woman with good taste.If you knew Beve you knew that she was a self-proclaimed ‘food snob’ 😊. She absolutely loved good food and enjoyed going to GOOD restaurants!

If anyone has ever lived life to the fullest, Beverly would be counted among them! We have all been blessed to have known Beverly Ann ‘Cozy’ Nash!

Family and friends are invited to join in celebrating the life of Beverly Ann ‘Cozy’ Nash on Friday, July 7, 2023 at 2 pm at the Grand River Care Center in Rifle, CO.

Refreshments will be served.