Life Sketch
Beulah Fern
Fenton Stevens
July 9, 1937 –
October 12, 2019
The Early Years
Beulah Fern Fenton was born on Friday, July 9, 1937 at Walla
Walla General Hospital. She was the second child, and second daughter of Claude
and Oral (Wilson) Fenton, joining her sister Katty Joy who was just 20 months
older. In their early, pre-school years, the two girls lived with their parents
in the home of Hattie Mae and Robert Vent, their grandmother and
step-grandfather. Their father, Claude worked as a carpenter building homes in
Walla Walla, while their mother Oral continued her service as a Registered
Nurse at Walla Walla General.
Around 1939 or 1940, Claude and Oral moved their family to
Fruitvale, Oregon, a tiny community near Umapine a few miles northwest of
Milton-Freewater. There, Katty Joy started first grade in the Fruitvale School,
a short walk from the family home on Sunquist Road. The Fentons were always community-oriented,
and the sisters often stood on the stage of the Fruitvale Community Center
directly across the road from the school. While living at Fruitvale, Brother
Beryl joined the girls in 1943 as the third child, bringing childhood vivaciousness
and liveliness to the Fenton household.
Another move brought
the family to a small rental near College Place on West Wallula Avenue. Daddy Claude continued his carpentry
employment with a local contractor in Walla Walla. The girls were enrolled in
Davis Elementary School in College Place, Katty Joy in 2nd grade,
Beulah Fern in 1st grade, beginning her journey of formal education
which would eventually extend over horizons completely unimagined at the time.
Nearing the end of the WWII years, the rental home on
Wallula Avenue was sold in early 1945. Weeks and weeks of searching the Walla
Walla Valley yielded nothing available anywhere for the family to live. Mother
Oral’s uncle-by-marriage, Leo St. Clair, wrote of a large farmhouse available
on North Outlook Road in the Yakima Valley, located on 50 acres of rich farming
land, together with several out-buildings, sheds, a small barn and corrals for
livestock. With rental agreements in place, four truck-loads of family
belongings made the trek from College Place to the Outlook farm in March 1945,
just in time to begin preparation for the soon-to-arrive asparagus season.
Friendly neighbors and visits from the Yakima Extension Service gave
experienced counsel on successful asparagus farming operations. The girls were
enrolled as students in the Outlook Grade School, in 2nd and 3rd
grades.
The North Outlook place would be the family home for the
next 40 years.
Just over two months after moving, right in the middle of the
first asparagus season, the fourth and final Fenton child (yours, truly!) made
his entry into the family. Beulah Fern and Katty Joy moved immediately into big-sister
mothering roles, helping to corral, entertain, and discipline their two little
brothers.
In time, all four Fenton young people graduated from
Sunnyside High School. Because of her singular ability to focus on
responsibilities at hand, her determination, and hard work, Beulah Fern earned a
place in the National Honor Society, proudly wearing the gold cords at her
graduation in 1955.
College and Beyond
After graduating from high school, Beulah Fern enrolled in
the Walla Walla College School of Nursing. This was her first year away from home,
and with Katty Joy already in the second-year clinical rotation at Portland
Sanitarium and Hospital, the Walla Walla campus was a new and challenging
experience. I remember our parents bringing my brother and me to “see Beulah
Fern,” and how excited she was to see “two little boys with rolled-up cuffs on
their blue jeans” come running up the sidewalk to greet her. She took us on a
“tour” of the campus, including Conard Hall, the cafeteria, the chemistry lab,
and other locations. During that first year of college she worked in
housekeeping, cleaning bathrooms, toilets, and hallways, and—as always—striving
to do the best job possible—even with those humble tasks which made life better
for others.
Beulah Fern received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing
degree from Walla Walla College in 1959. After working as a staff nurse at the
hospital in Portland from then until 1962, she returned to WWC to earn her MA
in Education, graduating in June 1963. In subsequent years this training proved
invaluable in her career path which gradually developed into a specialty of
Inservice Education for the nursing staff at Portland Adventist Medical Center
and later at Loma Linda University Medical Center. During this period of
employment in Portland, Beulah Fern co-authored a devotional book for nurses
with her friend, colleague, and mentor Grace Scheresky.
In 1969 she accepted a call from LLUMC Nursing Service to
serve as Director of Nursing Education and Training. She also maintained
faculty rank in the LLU School of Nursing. Through the early years of the 1970s
Beulah Fern was instrumental in developing policy and procedure manuals,
relating them to contemporary trends in nursing care, organization, etc. This
was followed in 1975-77 by her assignment as Coordinator for a US government
funded research project studying alternative methods of learning for nursing
students.
(On August 12, 1973, Beulah Fern married the love of her
life, James Ray Stevens, Jr. at the Granger, Washington Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Although they had no children of their own, Beulah Fern and Jim poured their
love into their several nieces, nephews, and any other children they knew. The
children responded in kind, and each of them still cherish the wonderful
memories of “Auntie Beulah and Uncle Jim.”)
As the research project drew to a close, Beulah Fern’s title
and responsibilities once again expanded. Under the title “Clinical
Specialist,” she was asked to undertake a pioneering project aimed at training
nurses to integrate appropriate spiritual care into nursing practice. She
served as a liaison between the Nursing and Chaplain’s Departments, working
closely with Head Chaplain, Dr. Wil Alexander. In this new capacity, Beulah
Fern conducted workshops and seminars for nurses, not only at LLUMC, but also
in major Adventist hospitals in the United States.
Once again her job description changed in 1980 when she
became the Director of Human Resources Development for LLUMC Nursing Division.
She served in this capacity until 1982 when she and her husband, Jim Stevens,
accepted an invitation to pastor a tiny congregation in Irrigon, Oregon, a
small town on the banks of the Columbia River in eastern Oregon. While Jim and
Beulah Fern lived in Irrigon, she remained active as a part-time Examiner for
Basic Health Systems. She continued her work in nursing education with
Spiritual Care Workshops for Nursing throughout the US, Puerto Rico, and what
was then the Far Eastern Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
In 1985, Beulah Fern moved again to Portland, this time with
her husband Jim by her side. For two years she served as Chaplain/Receptionist
in the Pastoral Care Department of Portland Adventist Medical Center. She
completed one quarter Basic Clinical Pastoral Education at Providence Medical
Center in Portland during Winter Quarter, 1987. With the retirement of Chaplain
Services department head Cal Hartnell, Beulah Fern was selected as the new
department leader—a position she held until her retirement in 2005.
Affiliations and Memberships
·
Sigma Theta Tau. National Honor Society for
Nurses
·
Association of Seventh-day Adventist Nurses
(Life Member)
·
ANA Certified Nursing Administrator
·
Seventh-day Adventist Church. Member. Ordained
local elder.
·
Certified Grief Counselor, Resolve Through
Sharing
The End of the Journey
With the Walla Walla Valley as her personal and family
roots, Beulah Fern decided to move to College Place for her final retirement
years. She lived in her own home on Sentry Drive, ever the gracious hostess,
loving neighbor, and active member of the College Place Village Seventh-day
Adventist Church. With the loving attention of Home Instead caregivers, she was
able to remain at home until one year ago when the advancing stages of
Alzheimer’s necessitated a move to an elder-care home.
In October of last year, Beulah Fern moved to Sunshine Home
here in College Place, where she lived until her death on October 12, 2019. She
is survived by her sister Katty Joy French, brother Loren Fenton, nieces
Michelle (Shelly) Waymire and Kimberly Holback, nephews Benjamin Fenton and
Jeffry Fenton, seven grand-nieces and nephews, one great-grand-nephew, and one
great-grand-niece.
Beulah Fern was preceded in death by her husband Jim Stevens,
her parents Claude and Oral Fenton, and her brother Beryl Fenton. Her final
resting place will be beside her beloved Jim at the Terrace Heights Memorial
Park in Yakima, Washington. The graveside service there will be at 11:00 a.m., next
Monday, October 21, 2019.
A Final Thought
Each of Beulah Fern’s family, friends, colleagues, and
casual acquaintances will forever cherish the memories, and bless the Lord for
the privilege we have had with Beulah Fern as part of our life. We are all
looking forward to the Great Resurrection Morning when death will be no more, no
mourning, crying, or pain for the former things will be forever banished from
God’s restored Universe and the beautiful Earth Made New. Even so, Come! Lord
Jesus!
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