Beverlyn Ann Carlson
1936-2024
King City, MO: Beverly Ann Gregory Carlson was the eldest daughter born to Kenneth and Madelyn (Gaines) Gregory on March 12, 1936, and entered her heavenly home on February 17, 2024. Bev spent her youth and life as a “farm girl” and grew up living with her parents on farms in Dekalb and Gentry counties, attending country schools, and graduating in 1954 from King City High School.
On June 5, 1954, she married Paul K. Carlson at Star Chapel in rural Gentry County. They made their home just across the county line in Dekalb county living in a three-room farmhouse “with a path” until 1962 when they moved less than a mile to the Carlson Farmstead. During the hey-day of CB radios the farm became known as “The Ponderosa” and Beverly’s title was “The Ponderosa Queen”.
Farming was Paul and Beverly’s life; Bev spent more than her share of time in the grain truck line; the Ponderosa Queen hauled most of the grain produced at the Carlson farm to the elevators in Union Star and St. Joseph during a time when it was uncommon for farm women to do so. Bev also helped take care of the livestock, she tended the cattle and hogs and didn’t shed a tear when the last hog was loaded and sent off the farm to market.
The Carlson matriarch was also a club and project leader in the Fighting 4-H Club in the Orchid community and was involved with the local horse arena and area horse shows. Hauling kids and horses was a major part of the summer when the kids were growing up.
Paul and Beverly enjoyed wintering in south Texas for a few years and in 1994 moved to town when Paul’s health began to fail. They enjoyed card parties and getting together with their lifelong friends living in King City. Beverly was Paul’s love and caregiver, transporting him every other day in his final years to dialysis in St. Joseph until his passing in 2005.
Beverly was a member of the Hammer Memorial Methodist Church and served the Lord as pianist and organist for a number of years. She was blessed with a beautiful voice and loved to sing not only with a choir but also as a soloist and provided music for countless memorial services for friends and family in the King City area. Beverly enjoyed planning class reunions for the class of ’54 and lunching with her “Nifty-Fifties” classmates as long as her health permitted. Beverly was also known as a “Sunday Driver” for a lot of years she chauffeured the church ladies after services to area restaurants where they enjoyed dining together for Sunday dinner.
Beverly leaves three children to carry on her legacy, Gary (Lorie) Carlson, King City, Jim (Becky) Carlson, King City, Linda (Rob) Hodge, Union Star; five grandchildren, Kelly (Steve) Dobbs, Nixa, MO, Bobby (Kyra) Carlson, King City, Ryan (Andrea) Hodge, Union Star, granddaughter-in-law, Celia Hodge, Union Star, Jake (Petrea) Carlson, Amity, MO, Sarah (Colby) Schuman, Amity, MO; eleven great grandchildren, Kamdyn, Jackson, and Landon Carlson, Addy Schuman, Chloe and Kaylee Carlson, Carter, Zachary, and Harper Hodge, Zoe and Cooper Hodge; and a sister, Karen Cheek, north Kansas City, MO.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Paul; grandson, Justin Hodge, and great granddaughter, Grace Hodge.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, February 23 at Roberson Funeral Home, King City, MO. Burial will follow in King City Cemetery, King City, MO. The family will receive friends from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Beverly Carlson Memorial Fund in care of Roberson Funeral Home, P.O. Box 153, King City, MO 64463. Online condolences may be left at www.robersonfuneralhome.com.
