Beverly Bethsinda Marie Cargill, the second oldest girl and third surviving child of the
union of Madge Evelyn Bullard-Cargill and Alton Elmore Cargill (deceased), was born in
Calabash Bay, Andros, on April 6, 1954. She followed Sidney and Vanria, the eldest, and
benefitted immensely from their wisdom and the nurturing guidance of her parents. She
is remembered mostly in Andros and those who knew her in her early days in Cambridge
Street and Farrington Road, for not only her chubby cheeks, but her thick, jet black, curly
long hair that was often inherited by many of the Cargill females.
Similar to her father, Alton, and her older siblings, she was baptized at St. Gabriel's Roman Catholic
Church in Calabash Bay, Andros. When Alton relocated his family from Andros to New
Providence to seek a better way of life in the early 1950's, she later attended St. Joseph's Roman
Catholic Church, where she received her second and third sacraments of Holy Communion
and Confirmation. It was in her parents' home on Farrington Road that she developed into a
young woman, cemented her primary education at St. Joseph's Catholic School, and grew deep
in the Catholic Church faith. She was by no stretch of the imagination a quiet child, as she
always tried to keep up with Sidney and Vanria, and later guided Godwin, Adrian and Cloretta
as they came along. Vanria is credited for guiding Beverly throughout her life, starting when she
was an infant and this close bond continued until Beverly's last days on earth.
Although she was focused on her studies at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic School, due to her
family's financial hardships at the time as her father was struggling as a young carpenter, and later
contractor, she attended the then JFK School in Nassau. There she opted to follow a respectable profession as
a secretary which required great skills in shorthand and typing, skills that Beverly adeptly mastered. Daddy
guided Beverly to attend the Bahamas Technical College where she was certified as an advanced secretary. He
later contacted the late Honorable Sinclair Outten, PLP representative for St. Barnabas to confirm Beverly's
permanent employment with the Ministry of Education. Beverly remained at the Ministry of Education until
her resignation to join the Bahamas Faith Ministries (BFM) Team on June 1, 1993. Beverly was proud to be
one of the early members of the BFM Church, and followed Myles Munroe from his premises on Bay Street, to
Mackey Street, and eventually to its current home on Carmichael Road.
When Alton relocated his family to Nassau East, where they still reside today, he showed his special love for
Beverly by assigning her the bedroom closest to his, and the two of them developed a bond as close as any father
and daughter could. He transported her to and from work daily, and ensured that she received her special
treats, mostly guineps. She rewarded him by flawlessly performing many of the administrative tasks associated
with his growing construction business, Alco Construction Company Ltd. Beverly developed close friends at
the Ministry of Education and we family fondly remember her closest and dearest friend, Antoinette Seymour,
Janice Minus, and Linda who she affectionately called "Spurge." These young women were all growing in their
profession as young administrative employees of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Beverly performed her
assigned duties with great pride and distinction. Many of her former Ministry colleagues refer to her with the
abbreviated name of "Bev," a nickname that later followed Beverly to BFM.
Beverly respected the values and beliefs of the Cargill household honored her father and mother,
nurtured her brothers and sisters, and faithfully and dutifully assumed the lead role as one of the
strong women in Alton and Madge's home. Her siblings, nephews and nieces, as well as her inlaws,
all loved her as she did them - her relationships with everyone remained strong and positive to
the end. When Beverly had her only child in 1973, the same year her grandmother, Olive Glass-
Cargill passed; she leaned on Vanria for assistance in naming her, and quickly adopted the name,
U'Shareme, that Vanria, an experienced flight attendant with International Air Bahama, selected
from reviewing the passenger lists of many flights to Luxembourg. U'Shareme quickly adopted the
nickname "Reme" - we all thought U'Shareme was too long - and grew up as a younger sister to
her aunts and uncles. Reme was especially close to Robertha, Rodd, Algernon, Ursula, Troy and
Cloretta. She was equally as close to Alton and Madge who raised her, along with all of us, as if she
was their child, or our sister, and today, we still feel that Reme is our other baby sister.
Beverly sacrificed all of her earnings, and readily received assistance from her siblings and parents to ensure that
Reme had the best education possible. Reme was given all the same opportunities as her aunts and uncles; and
as she matriculated through private school, Alton played the role of father and transported Reme everywhere -
just as he did with Beverly. When Reme went off to Florida Natural College of Health to gain her certifications
in Massage and Skin Therapy, Beverly was prouder than any parent, for it was Beverly's goal to ensure that
Reme received the best and advanced beyond her own successes. Her relationship with Reme was so strong and
impenetrable that whenever anyone saw Beverly, Reme was close behind, or at her side. Although it was initially
difficult to let go when Reme met Renold Victor while at school in Florida, Beverly accepted Renold and blessed
their marriage. She quickly realized that Ray loved Reme, provided a very good life for her, and extended Reme's
reach beyond what Beverly had initially provided. When Reyhan was born - Reme's only child - Beverly was
a proud grandmother who ensured that although Reyhan was in Florida, his Cargill family knew him. She
nurtured Reyhan in faith as she was nurtured. Reyhan and Beverly were also inseparable.
Without question, Beverly had many talents; she was deep-rooted in faith, and loved and followed Christ.
First, she was a skilled cook, as are most of her siblings, and adopted the household nickname, "Betty Crocker."
Her creativity led her to often include many nontraditional ingredients in simple Bahamian foods and we
often thought that during the preparation, she had gone too far this time. But, the ends justified the means
and her pots were always delicious. Largely due to her Andros heritage, and through her years of experience as
one of Mummy's assistants, Beverly developed a small catering business that helped to fund Reme's education
and also provide a comfortable life for Reme, and of course, her nieces and nephews. She was best known for
her delicious guava duff, and whenever she made it, she always telephoned each of her siblings and told them
to come for their share. Bobbie tried to copy Beverly's recipe for guava duff and many of her other treats, but
somehow, although her versions were delicious, we all quietly knew they did not match up to Beverly's. At
Easter time, it was a tradition in the Cargill family that Beverly would make our hot cross buns and she looked
forward to this every Easter. When her siblings were away, she even wanted to "FedEx" their buns to them and
almost always froze them until they came home. We all knew that Good Friday would not be the same without
Beverly's contributions to not only the buns, but also the entire Cargill family traditions. In fact, at the last
Good Friday, she telephoned Bobbie from her sick bed to ensure that she could follow her recipe and to ensure
that Adrian got his buns this year.
Beverly also realized her second talent, her unwavering love for Christ. When she decided to devote her life to
Christ, she resigned her job at the Ministry of Education and accepted a full time position at BFM. She was very
proud to be a member of this family, and although at the end, it appeared to Beverly and her family that BFM
had changed into a different organization than the one she joined and loved, she always lamented that Pastor
Myles would not let anything bad happen to her. Although she contemplated many times resigning her position
due to internal developments at BFM, and also due to her failing health, she remained employed with BFM,
but was unpaid due to her illness, until being called home to God. She and her family remain confused of these
developments, and although as equally disappointed as Beverly, remained quiet, leaving it all in God's hands.
After complications from back surgery in Florida, due to the delays in recuperating, and in hindsight now, due
to the non-smoker's lung cancer that she developed, she was in constant pain and dragged herself to work as
she could no longer suffer to be unpaid. Beverly worked until she could no longer function and often lamented
of the excruciating back pain she was experiencing when she returned home from work. Immediately after her
last day at work in October 2012, Beverly and Reme's dear friend, Jody Knowles, took time out of her busy
schedule and personal life to travel with Beverly back to Florida to seek further medical attention. On the day of
her arrival in Florida, she had to be rushed to the emergency room because of her failing back and it was during
this visit to the emergency room for what we thought was related only to her back surgery, that she received the
shocking news that she had stage 4 lung cancer. This terminal ailment, in her family's mind, explained the many
days she missed from work in the last few years of her life. Beverly remained shocked that she suffered with this
cancer through all of its stages and even more confused that it was not discovered until stage 4.
Throughout Beverly's illness, Reme, Ray, and her sisters and brothers remained at her side and visited her at the
Florida hospitals and at Reme's home in Florida often. Since Beverly was not being paid by BFM during her last
year of employment, her family paid for her medication and medical care not covered by insurance. Adrian and
Godwin took the lead role in ensuring that Beverly was never left without. Of course, Reme and Ray provided
the majority of familial and financial support by accepting Beverly into their home, dutifully caring for her daily
needs, and by camping out at her hospital bed during all her hospitalizations along with Beverly's sisters Vanria,
Clo, Ursula and Bobbie. Beverly's sisters also slept at her bedside in chairs daily, and in some cases, this extended
to several weeks, as they wanted to provide continuous prayer and familial support for their sister. She was very
appreciative when her nephew Byron, who drove down from Daytona Beach where he is studying, to assist in
converting her bedroom to a hospital setting, and always glowed when her niece Ricka who often accompanied
her aunts, came to visit her. She insisted in her nephew, Dr. Algernon Cargill, whom she nicknamed "Shortcake,"
was fully abreast of her medical condition and that he validate what ever her Florida physicians recommended.
She also conferred with her brother, Dr. Rodd Cargill, about her treatment frequently.
Beverly was excited that her mother Madge, notwithstanding her own illness, decided to visit her in Florida at
Reme's home a few weeks ago, and not surprised when Mummy commented to her children that that she would
crawl to see Beverly if she had to – and this she did, spending the last two weeks at Beverly's side. Somehow we
suspect that God whispered to Mummy that Beverly's last days were approaching. When Mummy got ill and
we insisted that she return home so that her youngest son, Dr. Rodd Cargill could look after her personally,
she insisted that she was not leaving Beverly and remained camped out at Beverly's bedside, although she was
immobile and really could do nothing other than pray and talk to Beverly daily. Algernon, who was sent by
the family to bring Mummy home, marveled at the closeness that still existed between them, although they
were both ill, the dialogue Mummy and Beverly shared, Beverly's unwavering commitment to her God, and her
thankfulness for the care Reme and Ray provided daily.
Like the majority of her family, Beverly had believed in the PLP party and remained committed to supporting
Melanie Griffin as the representative in Yamacraw until the May 2012 General Elections. When the PLP
Government turned on her brother for doing his job, despite her illness, Beverly often comforted Algernon, and
called him often to tell him that he was covered in prayer and to remain strong and unbroken and that the truth
would be revealed. She always covered him in prayer as she did all of her siblings and nephews and nieces. She
cared about all of her family members and although her health was deteriorating, she always said throughout
her illness, as Mummy and Daddy said, "when one of their 12 hurts, all hurt."
Beverly was blessed by God to be a member of the Cargill family and equally blessed to be surrounded by
her loved ones at the end. Beverly never wavered in her belief and faith in God. In fact, she prayed daily with
Reme and Ray, and was often visited by Reme's church family in Florida. Mummy and all of Beverly's siblings
kept her at the top of our prayer lists, and believed that God would give her no more than she could bear. She
was comforted that Rodd continuously consulted with her Florida doctors, and her nephews, Drs. Adrian and
Algernon Cargill Jr., reassured her often that the treatments and care provided to her was consistent with their
experiences and best practices. She could not have spent her last few days on earth more peacefully than she did
– she was visited by her mother for nearly two weeks, her favorite brother Algernon came to see her in Florida
and spent the day with her, and she died in the arms, peacefully and quietly, of her only child and primary
caregiver, Reme. She has left the troubles of this world behind and is now safely anchored in Jesus' arms.