Alberta Beyers

Alberta “Berta” Beyers, 85, passed away at her Charlevoix home on February 29, 2020.

Alberta was born on August 22, 1934 in Detroit, MI to Albert and Clara (Misica) Puhek. She spent many summers working in the Charlevoix area at family businesses including the Sunset Lodge and The Picnic Table, a deli operated by her dad in the building currently housing Harwood Gold.  She was a member of the first four-year class of the dental hygiene school at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. She met her husband Marvin “Marv” there, and they wed in 1956 after her graduation.

She raised her six children in Peoria, IL, where Marv was an engineer and executive at the Caterpillar Tractor Co. In 1974, she took over the operations of the Sunset Lodge, running it for the next 25 summers.  All her children worked at the lodge during the summers as well, and many also worked at Murdick's Famous Fudge Shop.  She and Marv retired full-time to Charlevoix in 2001 in a home built on the same footprint where the Lodge once stood.

Alberta was a natural leader and an engaged member of her community’s both in Peoria and Charlevoix.

In Peoria, she was active in her children's schools, her parish St Vincent de Paul, Easterseals, and arts and cultural organizations. When her children were grown, she returned to her dental hygiene roots, developing and staffing a health department program to provide dental care and hygiene education to grade school children around the Peoria area.

In Charlevoix, she was an active parishioner of St. Mary's Church, over the years involved in church decorating and the Rosary and Altar Society. The Charlevoix library was very important to her where she was active in Friends of the Library.

She was an adventurous traveler, making pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Holy Land and visiting other countries including Egypt, China, Russia, Chile and Italy. She also enjoyed knitting and gardening and had an ongoing "friendship' with local deer who liked to eat the flowers in her garden.

At the end of the day, her real priority was the nurturing of a strong, connected family. She welcomed the clan each summer for time together on the beach and traveled to visit with her children wherever they might be.  She was known for her warm engagement with people she met and nurtured lifelong relationships with many.

Alberta was preceded in death by her husband, Marvin and her youngest son John (Michelle), her parents and her husband’s parents, Otto and Agnes Beyers of Decatur, Illinois.  She is survived by her sisters, Mary Ann Kunkle (Wray) of Point Manalapan, FL; and Diana Puhek of Boynton Beach, FL; her five children, Mike (Debbi) Beyers of Denver, CO; Dan (Gail) Beyers of Denver, CO; Kathy (Dan) Wassmann of Glenview, IL; Barbara Beyers of Chicago, IL; Ann Marie (Joe) Arden of Chicago, IL; twelve grandchildren, Ashley (John) Arigoni, Sara Beyers, Elizabeth Wassmann, Megan Beyers; Emily Wassmann; Alec Beyers, Peter Wassmann, Allyson Beyers, Skyler Arden, Regan Beyers, Sophia Arden and Lily Arden; with one great grandchild, John "JB" Arigoni.

A visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 7 at St. Mary's Church in Charlevoix followed by a funeral Mass at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Friends of Library (220 West Clinton Street; Charlevoix MI 49720).

Arrangements are in the care of the Charlevoix Chapel of the Mortensen Funeral Homes.  Sign her online guestbook www.mortensenfuneralhomes.com