Beverly Willa McCready Tenneson

10/21/1942 – 2/28/2026

Beverly Tenneson

Beverly Willa McCready Tenneson, cherished wife, mother, and grandmother, and long-time resident of Sedro-Woolley, WA, passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 28, 2026, after bravely confronting Alzheimer’s dementia. She was 83.

Beverly was born in Portland, OR on October 21, 1942, the third child of William W. and Viola Paterson McCready. Her upbringing in small-town Forest Grove, OR, instilled in her a strong sense of community, dedication, faith, and commitment to family that remained throughout her life.

In her youth, Beverly participated in Blue Birds, Camp Fire Girls, and Order of the Rainbow, and was actively involved in Girls Athletic Association, Letter Girls, Junior Red Cross, Boosters, Honor Society and OR Girls State. The McCready family traveled often, giving Beverly the opportunity to visit much of the PNW as well as several National Parks and Hawaii. She helped her family with their annual “Fairyland” Christmas display, which featured animated scenes like Santa Claus’ workshop, the Seven Dwarves, and Beverly’s favorites, Raggedy Ann and Andy. This free community event drew tens of thousands of visitors each year. She graduated as Salutatorian from Forest Grove High School in 1960.

Beverly attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, where she was a dedicated member of Alpha Phi sorority, a Spur, Panhellenic Council president, and a Mortar Board member; she studied abroad in Grenoble, France in 1962. After graduating from UPS in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in French and minors in Music and Secondary Education, she started her teaching career at Lake Stevens High School as a French teacher, cheerleader coach, and GAA advisor. During these years she honed her lifelong budgeting skills, famously making a single chicken last an entire week.

Beverly was spotted by her future husband, John Tenneson, at a S-WHS football game in the fall of 1965, and they were married nine months later on June 26, 1966 in her hometown of Forest Grove, OR. They returned together to the farm in Sedro-Woolley, where they built their family home, raised three children – Jonelle, Mark, and Carolyn – and worked together as true partners until his passing in 2021.

Though not raised on a farm, Beverly adapted quickly to life at Skagvale Farms, enthusiastically helping with mowing, driving tractors, caring for cattle, assisting at fairs, and warmly hosting US and international visitors. Beverly and John started the Sunshine Dairy 4-H Club and served as co-leaders for many years, serving her own children and many others in the local dairy community. She was an active member of the Skagit County Dairy Women, where she helped with events, sold milkshakes at the county fair, and chaperoned the WA Junior Holstein youth on a trip to the National Convention in San Diego. After John retired from Skagvale, he and Bev had their own Elysian Meadows Holstein and Jersey herds. Beverly also enjoyed accompanying John on farm-related trips, including to Japan, New Zealand, England, and the Isle of Jersey.

Beverly was a dedicated volunteer, leader, carpooler, supporter, and attendee in all areas of her children’s lives, and she cheered the loudest – most famously using a cow bell – at their sporting events. She was a talented pianist, a skilled canner and preserver of produce from the family garden, an accomplished seamstress, an exceptional cook, and a gardener/landscaper extraordinaire, and she passed this knowledge and much else to her children through lessons and hands-on activities.

The family enjoyed hiking in the North Cascades and spending summer days at their Samish Island beach cabin, with Beverly leading many tide-flat adventures, creative projects, trail sing-alongs, story times, and picnic lunches.

When her own children were grown, she combined her love for teaching and her passion for France by helping to develop a French homestay/study program at Sedro-Woolley High School, leading student groups on cultural trips to France, and creating an after-school French program at Immaculate Conception Regional School in Mount Vernon. She also returned to Europe as a tourist three times, with the highlight being a week of French cooking school in Provence.

Beverly was an active member of Soroptimist International of Sedro-Woolley, an avid Mariners fan, a voracious reader, and a long-time member of the S-W Library Board, Bridge Club, Skagit County Dairy Women, and P.E.O. Sisterhood Chapter D. She was recognized for her warm heart and beautiful smile in her signature shade of lipstick.

Beverly will be profoundly missed by her three children: Jonelle (Dan) Tenneson Radford, Mark (Kim) Tenneson, and Carolyn (Ben) Tenneson Wahl; three grandchildren: Jacob and Dayton Radford, and Sara Tenneson; her sister, Patricia Ostenson; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

The family suggests donations in Beverly’s memory be made to Soroptimist International of Sedro-Woolley (sisedro-woolley@soroptimist.net) or Skagit County 4-H (foundation@wsu.edu). Inurnment will be held privately.