Beverly Joan Karcher

Beverly Joan Karcher (nee Dunkle) passed away peacefully on July 8, 2026 in the Spring Gardens Assisted Living Center while recovering from surgery for a broken hip. She had been bravely battling Alzheimer's Disease for three years during which time she never gave up trying to do the things she had always done.

Beverly was born on December 31, 1943 in Warren, Ohio to William and Toddy Ann Dunkle and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio where she attended Wyoming High School. After graduating, she went to Purdue University where she earned a BA degree in retailing. During her senior year at Purdue she met Raymond Karcher a graduate student instructor in a chemistry lab course she was taking and they developed a relationship. She went on to pursue a Masters Degree at Cornell University and studied textile chemistry returning to finish her degree at Purdue so she could be with Ray. They were married on August 27, 1967. She completed her degree in textile technology and worked in the Horne Economics Department as an instructor for a year. She then took a position as supervisor of the soil testing laboratory at Purdue where she helped Indiana farmers determine the additives they needed to make their soil more productive.

When Ray finished his graduate work, they moved to Detroit, Michigan where Beverly delivered their first child, Kristen Lynn. A year later, Ross Alan was born and Bev had her hands very full caring for two babies. As the kids grew, Bev chose to be a stay at home mom and was always there to help with schoolwork, projects and problems and inquire bow things were going. She was always available to give advice and provide pastries for school bake sales or work at a fund raiser school festival. When Kristen became involved with Special Olympics in high school, Bev was a regular transporter of her along with classmates to team practices or competitions. She volunteered as an assistant coach for downhill skiing after she and Ray took up the sport when Kristen did. She loved dogs and was the primary person our dogs Chipper and Dylan bonded with when they were puppies.

Throughout her life, Bev enjoyed going to concerts and plays, loved to dance and listen to classical music. She became a knitter and made the usual booties and sweaters for the kids as well as golf club covers for Ray. She took up weaving later and made a couple wall hangings that were unique and interesting. She was an avid gardener and annually planned and planted flowers in the beds around the house. She also grew tomatoes, peppers and herbs. Throughout her life, she enjoyed swimming, hiking and camping and spent many a night sitting by a campfire with Ray and the kids. She was an excellent trip planner, always writing for information about places the family intended to visit and mapping out the route, telling Ray "where to go" along the way. Early on she became interested in antiquing and collected antique glass. She and Ray also enjoyed browsing in used book stores and collected many old books. She did extensive research into our family history and visited the LDS library in Salt Lake City to gather information for our family tree.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Toddy and is survived by her husband Raymond and their two children, Kristen Lynn and Ross Alan, his wife Amy Lynn and their son Gibbeny James.

A memorial service for Beverly will be held at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at the Heber Valley Funeral Home, 288 N Main Street, Heber City, Utah. A time for gathering and sharing memories will begin that evening at 6:00 PM.

We express our gratitude to Rocky Mountain Hospice, especially Kristen Berg and Lisa Clarke for their loving attention to Beverly during the years preceding her death and to Home Instead for their assistance. Those wishing to commemorate Bev's life are asked to make a donation to the Alzheimer's Association .