Beverly Ann Duncan was born in Cannon Falls, Minnesota on October 13, 1935, the fifth child of William and Agnes Duncan. She was baptized as a young girl. She loved going to both elementary and high school in Cannon Falls; she especially enjoyed playing the bass clarinet in the high school band and carried the heavy instrument between school and home every day. Beverly took pride in winning several solo performance awards in musical contests. During her high school years, she enjoyed her church youth group where she developed a deep Christian faith, being greatly influenced and inspired by wonderful adult mentors.
Graduating from Cannon Falls High School in 1953, Beverly went on to study at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, majoring in Elementary Education and graduating with a B.S. in 1958.
While at Gustavus, she dated J. Roger Anderson. They sang together in the Gustavus Choir. After five years of courtship, they were married on July 18, 1959 at St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church in Cannon Falls. They moved to Rock Island, Illinois. During two of Roger’s years at Augustana Seminary, Beverly taught 2nd grade in Davenport, Iowa. When Roger interned at Angelica Lutheran Church in Los Angeles, she taught 4th grade in South Central Los Angeles.
In October 1960, Beverly gave birth to son Craig. In 1961, after Roger’s ordination, they moved to San Francisco where Roger served his first call. Daughter Laurel was born in November 1963 and in 1967 the young family moved to Thousand Oaks, California where Roger served Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Son Mark was born in May 1969.
For a number of years, Beverly held positions at California Lutheran University in the Development Department and served as CLU’s first Director of Church Relations. She also held a fundraising position with Lutheran Social Services of Southern California for several years.
In 1994, after Roger had served as Bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, they moved to Sun City West, Arizona where Roger became Senior Pastor of Lord of Life Lutheran Church. For several years, Beverly served as regional coordinator for Region Two of the ELCA, serving five synods in the southwestern U.S.
Through all the years of their marriage, Beverly gave superb support for the ministry, involving herself in many aspects of parish life while providing wonderful maternal care for her growing children. Beverly had a knack for spontaneous hospitality, such as lunch after church; enjoyed national and international travel; loved cats, dogs, hummingbirds, wildflowers, and trees; and had a weakness for quilts, all things Swedish, and TREATS!
In 2018, she and Roger moved back to Thousand Oaks to be close to their daughter and younger son after Beverly was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Until the very end, Laurel and Mark both gave loving support to their parents, along with Craig’s strong moral support from a distance.
On July 12, 2021, Beverly went home to be with God. She is survived by her husband Roger; children Craig (Laurie), Laurel (Mike Engstrom), and Mark (Christie); grandchildren Carl & Lars Engstrom and Logan, Lacey, & Landen Anderson; sister-in-law Grace Rossman; nieces and nephews; and longtime friends. A memorial service is pending and will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, 1 W. Avenida De Los Arboles, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.
Peace be to her loving memory.