Beverly J. Carpenter, 80, of Iowa City, formerly of Upland, Calif., and Edgington, Ill., passed away Monday Aug. 29, 2016, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, Milan. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Edgington Cemetery. Memorials may be left to Augustana College or American Red Cross-Rock Island Chapter.

Beverly was born Sept. 13, 1935, on the family farm in Edgington, the daughter of Mylo and Myrtis (Patterson) Carpenter.

Beverly graduated in 1957 from Augustana College. She worked from June 1957 to August 1959 at the Department of Public Welfare-Child Welfare division in Rock Island. In 1960, she began her 14-year career with the American Red Cross, where she started as a recreation worker and then transitioned to a social worker at the Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver, the 5th Army General Medical Center in Stuttgart, Germany, and finally the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.  From 1967 to 1968, Beverly served on the USS Sanctuary hospital ship off the coast of Vietnam.

Following her years with the Red Cross, Beverly joined the Los Angeles County Department of Child Services, where she served families and changed lives as a social worker from 1974 to 2001.

Beverly received the Augustana Alumni Citation award for exceptional service to wounded GI's while serving with the Red Cross aboard the USS Sanctuary hospital during the Vietnam war.

Beverly also was a world traveler, visiting every continent. She had a special bond with animals and particularly enjoyed seeing the polar bears at the Arctic Circle, safari animals in Kenya, the kangaroos in Australia and the penguins in Antarctica.

Survivors include numerous nieces and nephews, great nieces and great nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Mylo and Myrtis; sisters, Lucille Schmidt, Arlene Dhaemers and Dorothy Mueller.

Online condolences, memories, and "only-Bev" stories can be left for the family at wheelanpressly.com.