Obituary
Beverly Irene Serota (nee Brown) 82, of Columbia, Missouri, passed away Sunday, September 19, 2021. Beverly was born on June 8, 1939, to the late Samuel and Ida (Reiner) Brown in Chicago, Illinois. She spent her childhood years in Chicago, raised her family with her beloved late husband Alvin in Skokie, Illinois, and moved in 1993 to Las Vegas, Nevada. She spent the last five years in mid-Missouri in order to be closer to their daughter.
When her father passed away, she was only two-and-½ years old. She was raised by a single mother and older sister, where she had considerable responsibilities in the household. Inevitably Beverly became gender-conformed as a young woman typical of the era - the 1950s and early 1960s. She married as a teenager, had three children by the age of 25, and hadn't considered working beyond the secretarial position she had been fired from when her boss discovered her pregnant with her first child. Although Beverly worked hard to hide her growing belly with a girdle, she was "found out" in her second trimester and let go on the spot. That always irked Beverly…The height of the Civil Rights and Feminist Era that followed intrigued and motivated both Beverly and Alvin to get involved in their community, where they took special interest in causes that highlighted injustice to marginalized individuals. They were involved in too many organizations to even mention here.
In the middle-to-late 1960s, when Alvin, an educator, was invited to a holiday party with his co-workers, Beverly found herself on the outside looking in and became jealous she couldn't "talk the talk" with her husband's colleagues - both male and female. Alvin told Beverly she needed to do something to change that, so she did. Beverly not only earned an undergraduate teaching degree at Northeastern University in Chicago, Illinois, but she went further and earned double master's degrees also in education. Beverly spent decades as an educator and counselor, working with the most Severely Learning Disabled (SLD) high school students. She was passionate, dedicated, and excelled in the field. Students would find her years after they graduated and relayed the impact and positive changes, she encouraged in them. She was a tough cookie, and while not exactly feared, everyone knew that Beverly was not someone to mess with! Her "side jobs" included becoming a corporate travel agent and business owner. She was a union activist and became one of the founders of Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Illinois. She consistently pushed her children - both academically and through their activities - to be the very best they could be. Her three children eventually became a college professor, lawyer, and certified public accountant.
The lure of the sun and the poker table got the best of both Alvin and Beverly, at the end of 1993, they moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. They spend the next few decades enjoying the beauty and relaxation (and the poker table) of their newly adopted state. In 2016, they left the city that they loved and encountered what so many aging individuals experience: hardships relative to Alvin's physical health and Beverly's both diminishing physical health as well as quickly progressing dementia. They went through the retirement village and assistant living settings. Alvin passed away in the summer of 2020, amidst Covid-19, and Beverly had to be moved three months prior to memory care due to her declining mental acuity. It was trying and difficult and the struggle was similar to what so many families also experience during a pandemic. Through it all, however, Beverly remained strong, dignified, and joyous to be around. Her daughter recently spent an hour on the telephone with her main caregiver at the memory facility - talking about all the wonderful times he had with her in his care. She was memorable no matter the setting. One heck of a broad, Beverly will be missed by many.
Surviving family members include her children Susan and Lee Bryan (Lana). Also surviving are her four grandchildren: Leah (Chris) Squatritto, Aaron, Simone, and Benita, as well as two great-grandchildren: Ryan and Evan, a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives and dear friends. Shani Niang, of Las Vegas, became her very best friend, confidant, and lifeline. The family is eternally grateful to her.
She was preceded in death by her sister Anna (Brown) Mappa, her husband Alvin, and son Ronald.
The family asks that you honor and cherish the teachers in your lives and, of course, the women who continue to be - or will become - a force of nature. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice.