Beverly Tyleen Callaghan

Obituary Beverly Tyleen Callaghan Her name was Beverly Tyleen Nora Anne Schott Callaghan. But she was known as Bev, Mom and B to 13 grandkids who were crazy about her B Nana. She was 90 when she died on March 6, at home, surrounded by her family. Bev was born in Java, South Dakota., on Aug. 26, 1918 B a few months prior to the end of World War I and exactly two years before women gained the right to vote. Her father was George Schott and her mother was Gertrude Thielen Schott. The eldest of five children, Bev was raised in the little Eastern Montana town of Terry. She was valedictorian of the Class of 1936. The Depression put college out of reach so she went to work in Terry and six years later she and her sisters took the train to Seattle to "help win the war." In 1946 she married a returning GI named Denis Callaghan and enlisted in the Baby Boom, having six children in 10 years while living in Seattle, Longview and Tacoma. After surviving breast cancer, she returned to full-time work in 1961 as a bookkeeper and office manager. She retired, reluctantly, at age 63 but returned to work five years later and had a 12-year career as the aide to the late-Rep. Ruth Fisher. In Olympia Bev was known as the Cookie Lady for the tin of treats she had at the ready for the aides, constituents or lobbyists who stopped by to consult with Fisher, or often with Bev herself. She liked to give fellow House staffers who were expecting a child a copy of "Good Night Moon." Nana loved to spoil her grandkids, relishing their visits and accomplishments and attending many ballgames, band concerts and graduations. She also loved to watch, talk and debate politics and required larger and louder TVs as her eyesight and hearing began to fade. Bev joked that her father forgave her for converting to Catholicism but not for becoming a Democrat. She insisted on living long enough to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama and rose unusually early to watch the festivities. Her sister Dody Hauter died in 1998. Her other siblings survive her: sister Wini Haug and brothers Don Schott and George Schott. Also surviving are children (and in-laws) Nora Jangard, Denis (Deb Kenworthy), Hannah (Bob Weaver), Kevin (Patsy), Liz Shaub (Scott) and Peter (Suki Dardarian). And then there are all those grandkids: Lynn Jangard, Christian Jangard (Carissa), Jennifer Callaghan, Mike Kenworthy, Emily Sikorski (Jason), Claire Weaver, Ian Callaghan, Ellen Callaghan, Melissa Shaub, William Shaub (Suzanna), Kevin Shaub, Anna Callaghan and Blair Callaghan. She leaves behind numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. A rosary will be recited Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Gaffney Funeral Home, 1002 S. Yakima in Tacoma. A funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Patrick's Church, North 12th and J, Thursday at noon. She will be buried at Calvary Cemetery next to her husband, who died in 1974. The family thanks Bev's caregiver Linda Fischer and suggests that memorial donations go to Franciscan Hospice, which helped make her final days comfortable and dignified.