Beverly Morrison Glennon, 65, of South Dartmouth, passed away on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at Women and Infants’ Hospital after a long, courageous battle with cancer.
Beverly was born on September 20, 1941, the daughter of the late Wilfred and Virginia Borden Morrison. She was raised and educated in Dartmouth, and was a member of the Allen’s Neck Meeting. She graduated from Dartmouth High School; then graduated from Southern Connecticut University with a bachelor’s degree in education/history. At Boston University she earned her master’s degree in children’s literature/library science.
She married Dr. Joseph R. Glennon, and on July 2nd they would have celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary.
In 2001 Bev retired after 37 years of teaching elementary grades in Lynnfield and Dartmouth, MA where she set up the first Potter School library. In 1999, the Dartmouth superintendent of schools nominated and recommended her for the Scott Foresman National Teacher Award for her demonstrated “deep commitment to the development of a love of reading in her students and throughout the community,” and for her varied written contributions to encourage the rewards of reading. She was also nominated “Teacher of the Year” by another superintendent during the 1970s.
A gifted writer, she authored two books: Dartmouth - The Early History of a Massachusetts Coastal Town and Three Hundred Men for the Union – Dartmouth, Massachusetts in the Civil War. With Judy Lund she co-authored the book Greetings From Dartmouth, Massachusetts - A Postcard History. She has also written articles for several educational magazines.
She was a reviewer for the International Reading Association Children’s Book Awards, and was a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Bev was a member of several educators’ associations: National Educators Association, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Bristol County Educators Association and the Dartmouth Educators Association, where she served as the DeMello School Faculty Representative for many years.
An active volunteer in her community, she was named Dartmouth’s 1997 Woman of the Year by the New Bedford Standard Times, and served as a Town Meeting Member for 39 years.
In 2005, she was recognized by the Dartmouth Veterans Memorial Park Committee for helping to preserve Dartmouth’s place in history, as the hometown of a Civil War hero, Private David Lewis Gifford, for whom a monument stands near the Dartmouth Middle School. For her efforts she was the recipient of a medal that was originally presented to women who helped Union soldiers during the Civil War.
Bev was an active member of the following organizations: Pi Lambda Theta, DNRT Grist Mill Commission, New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford Yacht Club, New Bedford Rod and Gun Club, Wampanoag Kennel Club, Civil War Monument Committee, and was a former co-chairman of the Dartmouth Historical Commission.
She was pre-deceased by her sister Lee M. Shipley, her nephew HansPeter Fralick; her mother and father–in-law Joseph and Kathryn Glennon.
Survivors include her beloved husband Joe; two aunts, Florence Lemos and her husband Robert of Dartmouth and Joyce Sanderson and her husband Eric of Florida; three brothers-in-law, John Shipley of South Berwick, ME, Dr. Thomas Glennon and his wife Dr. Jody Kreiman of Santa Monica, CA, and John G. Glennon and his wife Dondi of Pittsburg, CA; a sister-in-law Dr. Katharine G. Fralick and her husband Dr. Richard of Durham, NH; two nephews, Troy Shipley, his wife Brandi and grandnephew Asher of Colorado Springs, CO, and Thomas P. Fralick, his wife Emily and grandnephew Oliver of Lake Tahoe, CA. She is also survived by many cousins and friends.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial and burial service on Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 1 p.m. in the Allen’s Neck Meetinghouse located at 739 Horseneck Road, Dartmouth. Visiting hours will be held on Friday, June 8, 2007, from 4-7 p.m. in the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park Street, New Bedford. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Cancer Research, c/o Dr. Richard Moore, Women & Infants’ Hospital, 101 Dudley St., Providence, RI 02905, or to the Beverly Morrison Glennon Fund, c/o Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust, P.O. Box 87026, Dartmouth, MA 02748. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.