Mary Beverly (Morris) Guck was born in 1936 to Madge (Fulmer) Morris and Arthur Harry Morris. A kindergarten teacher and an artist, her parents were loving, caring people who during the Great Depression taught our mom that having little meant that you still have something to share, and when you think you have nothing, if you have love you have everything. Throughout our mom's childhood, even when the world was at war, their love shielded her from fear and want. They always shared belongings, took people in, contributing to the war effort and the needs of others. Our mom emulated their way of treating people with kindness, both friend and stranger. With her smile, kind words and compliments, she always made people feel happy.
After receiving her associate degree from Green Mountain College, she fell in love and married Charles Frederick Guck with whom she had two children, Melissa and Charles Christopher. They moved to Newtown in 1963 and lived there until 1987.
While working as a secretary for Newtown Middle School, she suffered a cerebral aneurysm which given the relatively rudimentary care at the time, she somehow survived. Her time spent in the ICU fully conscious for six weeks, being told not to move or sneeze, became her spiritual rebirth. At one time, she described seeing total blackness with a broken glass pattern of bright white light shining through. Believing that fractured pane to be her death, she refused to go near it, driven by the love for her family. Her resolute character was not just her survival but her salvation. In many ways, it was also ours.
She recovered and went back to school to receive her bachelor's degree in psychology from Western Connecticut State University. She worked many years as a psychiatric social worker at Fairfield Hills Hospital where she was loved and respected by peers and clients. Throughout their time in Newtown, Beverly and Charles developed many deep and lifelong friendships, sharing many years of holidays, weekends, vacations and impromptu parties. Memories of these times are cherished by all who took part.
In 1987, Beverly and Charles moved to Oxford on Maryland's eastern shore, where she worked toward her master's degree and continued her social work in Chestertown. They enjoyed time with their grandchildren Thomas and Grace, and continued their trail of creating deep, lasting friendships with our mom's way of painting the world with love and kindness. If the purpose of art is to express or elicit emotion, then our mom, in her very own special way, was a masterpiece.
They loved their time together living in the Maryland tidewater but then she suffered from a second cerebral aneurysm and once again recovered. In all her softness of character, she was an amazingly strong and resourceful woman.
The piano was her release, her solace and her escape. Our mom's need to play the piano was as necessary as a butterfly's need to flutter with beauty and purpose. It was how she collected her nectar and along with her family to become so strong. Alzheimer's disease and dementia gradually reduced the piano to a piece of furniture. While the piano was removed from her memory, her infectious way of showing kindness to others never waned.
She lived her life as a "Bridge over Troubled Water", offering a path of comfort to her family, friends and to everyone she encountered. And that wonderful smile that lured people in.... She had quite the gift. We have all been honored knowing her. Let's all be more like Beverly to honor her memory. She passed peacefully on December 28, 2022, two days before her 86th birthday.
"Sail on Silver Girl".
With love, Melissa and Chuck.
