Beverly W. Mullen, 81, died on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, with her family by her side in Mesa. A memorial service will be held in Winslow, with the date to be announced later.
She was born Dec. 7, 1929, in Waverly, Iowa, to Harry and Doris Ward. She had two brothers and one sister.
Beverly graduated from Shell Rock High School in 1947. She attended the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Des Moines, Iowa, graduating in 1950. After graduation from nursing school, she married Richard K. Mullen in 1951. They divorced in 1972. They had six children, Christine, Jeffrey, twins Jacqueline and Joyce, Deborah and Meredithe.
She moved to Winslow in 1986 and began working for the Winslow Indian Health Care Center. She retired in September 2011 after 25 years of working as a nurse for the WIHCC. While living in Iowa, she worked as a nurse at Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames. She also worked for the National Animal Disease Center at its laboratory in Ames.
Her interests included family, needlework, especially knitting, and reading. She devoted much of her time and energy as a volunteer for Winslow Friends of the Library. She was a lifelong recycler. Her “15 minutes of fame” came as a result of a short news article about her hobby of collecting discarded aluminum cans. The cans were recycled and the proceeds were donated to Friends of the Library. Bev and her fellow can collectors were pleased to be known as “the can ladies,” who searched everywhere (including dumpsters) for every can that could be recycled.
Survivors include her children, Christine, Deborah, and Meredithe; her sister, Marilyn Heine; and two grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to La Casa de Nuestra Senora Madonna House in Winslow or the Winslow Friends of the Library.
Greer’s Mortuary of Winslow was in charge of the arrangements.
