Beverly Tucker Gaynus, a lifelong Northwest Philadelphia resident, loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend and devout Christian, died May 13 of progressive supranuclear ophthalmoplegia, a neurodegenerative disease, while in hospice care. She was 87.
“In the last few weeks Mom stopped eating, and I felt helpless because I could not figure out how to get her to eat,” her daughter, Leslie Gaynus, of Mt. Airy, told the Local last week. “She fought the good fight. I had 68 years with her. I wish I could have had another 68. I was so blessed to have her as my mother.”
On March 18, 1939, Erma and Arthur Tucker welcomed their third daughter, Beverly, affectionately known as “Mumsie,” into the world. She was the third of five girls, who their mom often called her “five degrees.”
Beverly attended Little Flower High School, graduating in 1957. She married Thomas E. Gaynus that fall, and they welcomed daughter Leslie in May of 1958. She began her career in retail for Lord & Taylor and Bloomingdale’s and then transitioned to a long career in government, working as an employee for the state and then a claims representative for the Social Security Administration. At one time, Gaynus was also a doctor’s receptionist.
“She was a shopaholic,” Leslie said. “She used all her money to buy clothes. She was very stylish. I inherited that from her.”
In 1964, Beverly gave birth to her second daughter, Lauren, whose father was Jesse Woodrit, a Philadelphia firefighter. According to Lauren, “Whether it was tending to her garden at Upsal Street or being an active member in her village, music was constantly in Beverly’s life, and you could frequently hear Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin coming from her home when she was not going to gospel concerts.”
“We called Bev ‘Mumsie,’” Leslie added. “She also baked lemon cakes and carrot cakes for some restaurants in the Northwest. Life provided her with a plethora of travel experiences, and whenever Ms. Alice Harris (a friend) would host cruises, Mumsie would be there.”
In 1992, Beverly’s granddaughter, Camille, was born to Leslie just two weeks before Beverly’ March birthday. Thinking she would be having a grandson (according to family members), Beverly reversed course and quickly rushed out to purchase pink clothes for Camille, since Beverly was a fashionista and loved a good shopping trip with friends.
Beverly enjoyed being a mother and grandmother and was very active in her hobbies and education. For the last two decades of her life, she enjoyed the community at Valley Greene Apartments on Wissahickon Avenue, a housing cooperative, where she was a part of the social committee and a board member for several years. She brought her love of games and gardening to the community in her roles in addition to her impressive skills as a baker.
She was also a member of the Douglass Club, a historic social club and gathering space in Mt. Airy, and the Colonel Charles Young American Legion Post #682 in East Mt. Airy. (Charles Young was the third African American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.)
Leslie Gaynus, now retired, was a lawyer for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. Her daughter, Camille (“Dr. Cea”) has a doctorate in marine science and did post-doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania. She is now the chief science officer for a nonprofit organization.
“I love Mt. Airy,” Leslie said, “and the fact that we have alternate lifestyles, diversity, genders, gay, black and white people all living together in peace.”
Beverly Gaynus is survived by two sisters, Patricia Stewart and Claudia Keto-Tucker; her daughters, Leslie Gaynus and Lauren Woodrit; her “bonus son” Michael Collins and daughter Carrie (Gina) Remy; granddaughter Camille Gaynus; and “bonus grandsons” Justin and Jordan Collins; a host of nieces and nephews, cousins and friends.
Funeral services were held May 22 at St. Martin de Porres Church, 2340 W. Lehigh Ave.
Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.
