Beverly L. Holly

On Sunday, December 20, 2020, Beverly “Bev” Lillian (Goodson) Holly “walked on” to be with her Lord for eternity.  Our hearts are broken, but we know she is no longer suffering or in pain and that she is with her Lord and her Mother, who she sorely missed.   Bev was one of so many to suffer from and succumb to Covid-19. She was especially vulnerable to this awful virus because of severe asthma and many years of repeated hospitalizations for pneumonia. It was not a fair fight for her.

Bev was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 23, 1952, but by age one she was in Topeka and lived there the rest of her life. She was the third child born to Melvin Andrew Goodson and Lillian Eileen Schwartz Goodson. Bev is survived by her husband of 35 years, Robert Kenneth Holly, Jr.; three siblings; brothers Mark Edward Goodson and his wife Susan of Longview, Texas and David Andrew Goodson and his wife Connie of Ozawkie, Kansas; and a sister Amy Rose Herrick and her husband Randy of Christiansted, St. Croix, V.I.

Beverly is also survived by her “bonus” family. To Bev they were never stepchildren: Son James Lewis Holly and his wife Cindy of Stratford, Missouri and daughter Jeanette Holly of Topeka, Kansas; grandchildren Robert Lee Holly, Zac Mullings, and Amber Holly of Springfield, Missouri, Tristan Moe and wife Caitlyn of McMinnville, Tennessee, Victoria Freel, Brandon Holly, Bryce Manis, and Cameron Manis, all of Topeka, Kansas; great grandchildren Jacob, Brynli, Jerome, Kouvr and Octavia of Topeka, Kansas. Bev is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Bev attended Quincy Elementary, Curtis Junior High School and Topeka High School, graduating in 1970. She attended Washburn University. Bev was a Deputy for the Shawnee County Sheriff for a period and then spent 28 years (for a total of nearly 38 years in law enforcement) in various positions with the Topeka Police Department, retiring in 2018. She was proud of the work she did in law enforcement and loved her law enforcement family.

Bev married Robert, the love of her life, on a cold winter day in Topeka, December 14, 1985, at North Topeka Baptist Church. She was a beautiful bride and for over 35 years, Bob always referred to her as his bride.  Bev and Bob shared many wonderful times with their large and loving family.

Being selfish, we wanted more, but we were blessed to have Bev with us for 68 years. Her life was overflowing with love and life. She struggled with health issues for many years., but her health issues hardly slowed her down. She spent her time and energy generously and lovingly caring for others, especially her Mother Eileen, who passed in 2017. Bev never missed a child, grandchild, great grandchild, niece or nephew’s birthday party. She was always there to help when family or friends were in need. She was a prayer warrior for anyone who needed help in any way. She could raise armies of prayer warriors in an instant, and for all of this, will be sorely missed.

Bev loved the Kansas Jayhawk basketball team. She never missed a game and had a group of online friends who shared the games with her. She mourned and often questioned their losses, but she gleefully shared their victories, especially with those not keeping up. Bev loved to cook up and enjoy the messes of crappie her brother David caught and shared with her. Several times over the years, David dropped off bags of crappie to be shared with Bev’s brother Mark, but none of those bags made it to Mark. Bev would laugh, say they were delicious and tell Mark he should have gotten there quicker.

Bev was especially fond of the eagles that nest on the shores of Lake Shawnee in Topeka. She loved watching them and keeping up with their activities, worrying about their babies. Her love of eagles was also evident when she visited the Citizen Potawatomi Nation (CPN) eagle aviary in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She never missed a visit to the aviary when in Shawnee and she knew all the eagles’ names and stories. She especially enjoyed tracking a female eagle named Wadase that the CPN was able to rehabilitate and release. She became fast friends with the CPN eagle caretakers.

Later in life, many of Bev’s favorite activities involved RV camping trips with Robert, to lakes and parks just to watch the wildlife and make new friends, to the annual CPN festivals and pow-wows, to visit family in Missouri and to visit her brother Mark in Texas.

Bev was a proud member of the CPN. Her Native American name was Wabenkwe, which means Sun Rise Woman. She loved everything about her Native American heritage, including learning the language, playing Bingo in Potawatomi, making proper and beautiful regalia, earrings, birch baskets, and more. She was ultimately the driver behind her immediate and extended family learning to love their CPN heritage and participating in the CPN’s annual festival and pow-wow and the Potawatomi Gathering of Nations. Bev loved participating in the grand entry and dancing during the pow-wows. She loved that Robert enjoyed participating in CPN activities, especially those for veterans. She was not able to do much dancing as she got older, but she proudly wore her regalia and participated as much as she could. It will not be the same without her.

Bev was loved by many and will be missed. She will always be in our hearts.

We will always love you, Bev, and we will see you in heaven someday. Bama pi. (Potawatomi for “until later.”)