Beverly J. Hest

Beverly Hest died Thursday, October 11, 2018, in Eagan, MN.  She was 90 years old.

Beverly Jean Tehven was born May 12, 1928, in Moorhead, to Wendell and Gina Tehven.  Bev was the oldest daughter in a large family (8 children).  Growing up at a time when electricity had not yet come to the Red River Valley, Bev worked hard as a child (cleaning kerosene lamps, helping feed threshers during busy harvest seasons, helping her mother keep the household, etc.)  She loved her childhood on the farm, and spoke fondly about skating on the Red River and playing in the woods near her home.  She started school in the three-room schoolhouse in Perley, MN, in the fall of 1934 and continued there through eighth grade.  Legend has it that it was at Perley School that she first met John Hest. She remembered him as one of the “big boys” who pushed her on the swings (he a sixth grader, she a first grader –  he will re-enter this story later!)  Beverly attended Hendrum High School from 1941-43.  The Tehven family moved to Ada, MN, when Bev was a high school junior, and Bev graduated from Ada High in May 1945.  Following graduation, she went to Dakota Business College in Fargo and held several jobs.  She married John Hest in May 1949.  The couple took up residence in Clearbrook, MN, where they had their first five children (Bob, David, Margaret, Peter, who died at birth, and Mary).  In 1958 they moved to Hawley, MN, where their youngest (Rachel) was born, and where they made their home until John’s death in 2002.  In Hawley, John taught high school ag and later led the Adult Farm Management Program.  Bev was active in the Hawley community, serving as Sunday School teacher and on the altar guild at Hawley Lutheran Church.  She was also on the Hawley Art Show Committee for many years and delivered Meals on Wheels for well over 20 years.  After John’s retirement, John joined Bev in delivering meals.   A Hawley friend said that after they retired, John and Bev were together so often that she thought of them as “Bev and John,” as though they were a single entity.  John died in December 2002, and soon after, Bev moved to the Twin Cities to be near her children.  She lived in senior housing in St. Paul until Alzheimer’s disease dictated that she move to a memory care home in Eagan.

Many people may remember Bev as quiet and unassuming. Those who didn’t know her well may have been unaware of her quick wit and quirky sense of humor. Her children and grandchildren remember her creative mind, her artistic eye, mastery of almost anything that required fine hand movement (sewing, corn husk dolls, wagon wheel rugs, Barbie doll dresses, amazingly decorated Christmas trees), creative and delicious cookery, great story-telling (especially tales of growing up on the Red River), love of words (closet poet), and her voracious reading.  Even when in the throes of Alzheimer’s, Bev loved reciting the many poems she had memorized over her lifetime.  It was not by accident that Bev raised five artistic children.  She gave her children the freedom to be themselves.

Bev is survived by her children and their partners, Bob Hest and Cookie Coleman (Minneapolis); David Hest and Catherine Lexau (St. Paul);  Margaret Hest and Richard Petersen (Minneapolis);  Mary and Minoru Koi (Saline, MI); and Rachel Hest and Brian Van Stavern (Minneapolis); four grandchildren and their partners,  Christy Van House and Jim Weber (Minnetonka, MN); Kentaro and Katie Koi (London, UK); Yusekae Koi and Hannah Findlow (London, UK);  Robert Hest and Emily Houser (Minneapolis); and two great-grandchildren, Hanako and Izumi Koi (London, UK); two brothers and their wives, Jon and Gloria Tehven  (Waverly, IA);  and Donald and Mary Tehven (St. Paul); one sister, Marjeanne Tehven (Duluth); brother-in-law, Jim Iwen (Hannaford, ND); and three sisters-in-law, Jane Tehven (Enid, OK);  Hermoine Tehven (Fargo); and Ilene Tehven (Fargo); as well as many nieces and nephews, their children and grandchildren.

Bev is preceded in death by her husband, John Hest; her son, Peter Hest; her sisters, Donna Tehven and Patricia (Jim) Iwen; her brothers, Bud (Hermoine) Tehven, Marvin (Jane) Tehven, and Lowell (Ilene) Tehven; her sister-in-law, Darlene Tehven; her brother- and sister-in-law, Ralph and Ethel Hest; her niece, Nancy Hest; and her nephew, Jeffrey Iwen.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, November 1, 2018 at Wright Funeral Home, Moorhead, MN. Visitation will be one hour before the service starting at 10:00 A.M. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation are suggested.