Beverly Sundahl

Beverly Anne McKenna Sundahl, 88, Bismarck/Cando, died January 14, 2020, in Denver, Colorado.  Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday, January 27, at Church of Corpus Christi, 1919 N 2^nd St, Bismarck. 

Visitation will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday, January 26, at Eastgate Funeral Service, 2302 E Divide Ave, Bismarck. A rosary/vigil service will begin at 4:00 p.m.

Burial will be held at a later date in Cando, North Dakota.

Beverly was born on May 25, 1931, to Geraldine and John McKenna in Devils Lake, North Dakota.  The McKennas lived in Brocket, ND, and Lakota, ND, before moving to Cando, ND, where Bev graduated from Cando High School in 1949.  She attended Minot State on a Rural Scholarship, eventually obtaining her teaching degree in 1953.  Bev obtained her master’s degree in 1979, from Northern State College, Aberdeen, South Dakota.  Beverly married Bruce Sundahl at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Cando, ND, in 1954.   They moved to Bottineau, ND, and then moved to Bismarck, ND, in 1962, taking over the operation of Sundahl’s Jack & Jill.  Beverly was an elementary school teacher for 35 years and mainly taught at Grimsrud, Pioneer, and Roosevelt, where she was proud to direct the “Pioneer Boys.”  She was the founder, and director, of the Bismarck Boys’ Choir, which is still in existence to this day, now named the Dakota Children’s Choir.  She played the organ/piano at Corpus Christi for the adult choir for 40 years.  Beverly sang in the Civic Chorus and was honored to perform with them at Carnegie Hall!  Beverly was also an excellent musician and an award-winning artist.  She insisted on finishing her last painting on January 9th, 2020, refusing to leave until it was complete.

Bruce and Beverly had five children together.  Beverly suffered a brain stem stroke in June of 2007 and fought to regain her speech and ability to walk, which she bravely persevered up until her passing.  She moved to Denver in 2012.  Despite the move, her love of North Dakota never faded.  Bev remained in Colorado where she was always thrilled to have friends and family visit and would greet them with a smile and her insatiable sense of humor.  She was stoic, brave, never complained, and was a favorite resident at Someren Glen Assisted Living.

Beverly is survived by her five children and their spouses, Barbara Casanova (Robert), Shari and the late Dr. Mark Mehlhoff, Michelle Sundahl, Bruce Sundahl (Bridget), and Sarah Haines (Peter); 12 grandchildren, our beloved Nate Cawelti who passed away in 2004, Jack and Grace Cawelti, Luke and Lexi Woodruff, Alana, McKenna and Sadie Sundahl, Michael and Thao Mehlhoff, Katherine (Mehlhoff) and Jensen Connor, and Caroline (Mehlhoff) and Albert Carr, and Parker Haines; one great-grandson, Colin Mark Connor, brother Terry and Mary Ann McKenna, sister, Babe Belzer; along with nieces, nephews and many friends. 

Beverly was preceded in death by Bruce Sundahl, Sr.; her parents, Geraldine and John McKenna; sister, Trudy and Leonard Nygaard; Terry Belzer; Jeff Woodruff; and Steve Cawelti.

Beverly always had a smile on her face.  Her love of making everything around her more beautiful, or “Beverizing” her surroundings and those living within them, never faded.  Her love of family and her Catholic faith has always been deep.  She will be missed immensely.