Portland, Oregon - Long time Traverse City resident, Beverly Newson, passed away on October 5, 2025, while in hospice in Portland, Oregon. She was 97 years old. She was predeceased by husband Don, oldest son Jeff, sister Jan and brother Russ.

Bev was the oldest child of John Busk, son of Danish immigrants, and Mildred Busk, nee Baysinger. With her younger sister and brother, she grew up in Utah during the Depression and WWII, and studied nutritional science at the University of Utah.

She graduated with a degree in Nutrition and her husband of 65 years, Don Newson. They met because, as Bev told it, "I was late for my 8:00 am chemistry class."

The Korean War turned them into a military family. Bev took an active interest in the world around her wherever she was, learning from local cultures and volunteering where she could, while raising her children, keeping an immaculately clean home and cooking tasty (and nutritious) meals. During the late sixties, she earned a Master's in Library Science and worked as a school librarian at a time when very few middle class women had careers outside the home.

When Don retired from the military, Don became a professor at MSU, in East Landing, Michigan. There, Bev worked as a school librarian and became involved with the League of Women Voters, volunteer work she continued after they moved to Traverse City.

They loved Traverse City very much, making many friends while volunteering at the Traverse City Visitor's Center, Kiwanis Club and the League of Women Voters. They stayed in touch with many family friends met in the military, friends of their children, and Don's ex-graduate students. Bev also enjoyed weekly bridge games, Mah Jong sessions and walks in nearby parks with Don and their spunky, wily Shelties.

Determined to be realistic about her own limitations as she got older, Bev moved from Traverse City, Michigan, in August 2020, to Portland, Oregon, where two of her children live. She continued weekly bridge games with new friends in the independent living community where she lived, and celebrated birthdays with family as long as she could. She is missed by many.