Obituary of Beverley H. Nalven

Beverley Harper Nalven 1934 -2024 Beverly Nalven of Larchmont, New York finished the last chapter of a full and happy life on the 17 th of January, 2024. She is survived by her loving sons and stepsons, their wives, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, a sister, nieces, nephews and legions of friends. Bev was born in 1934 to Ursula Burns Harper and Lesley Peter Harper, joining her sister, Lesley to complete their family. Her father had been an officer aboard the Cunard Line’s Queen Mary when he met Ursula at an Annapolis cotillion. Their domestic life was somewhat less exotic. Bev graduated from Mamaroneck High School, where she had been voted class secretary, head twirler and best looking. She earned her B.A. from St. Lawrence University, later becoming President of their Alumni Association and a member of their board of trustees. Bev taught elementary school in Canton, New York, while her first husband, Gerard van Dijk, a Korean War veteran, finished his B.A. at Hamilton College. (He had grown up in Holland, Venezuela, Curacao and Costa Rica, but their domestic life was also somewhat less exotic.) Returning to Larchmont, Bev and Jerry had three sons, Dirk, Peter and Chris. In addition to raising her boys, she worked as a substitute teacher, a Louis Harris pollster and, later, the Director of Alumni Relations at Sarah Lawrence College. After a divorce, she met and married the love of her life, Maurice “Mal” Nalven, gaining two stepsons, Glenn and Todd. Bev and Mal spent joyous years traveling, sailing and enjoying the company of their expanded circle of friends and family. Following Mal’s untimely death in 2002, she returned to the workforce, accepting a position with the Philip Evans Scholarship program at Swarthmore College. She served as mentor and surrogate grandma to an exceptional group of young scholars. A celebration of her life will be held at the Larchmont Yacht Club on February 18 th at 12:30. If so inclined, donations in her honor are welcome at the Cancer Support Team, whose lovely people made the last years of Mal’s life tolerable, or to the equally lovely people at Calvary Hospital, whose compassion and care eased Bev’s transition to joining him, at least in spirit.