Beverly Moore Esswein passed away the morning of April 29, 2015 in her home, succumbing to lymphoma. She was born on September 30, 1949 in South Carolina. Her family moved to Falls Church, Virginia when she was young. She graduated from George Mason High School in 1967. She attended Rollins College in Winter Park Florida for two years, but did not finish.

She was an independent woman who drove across the country by herself. She obtained a pilot’s license and spent several years flying small planes. When the airport closed, she took one of the airplanes and travelled for two months in lieu of a paycheck. She also enjoyed flying hot air balloons. She lived in California for several years before moving back to Northern Virginia.

In 1975 she married John Esswein. They had five children: Elizabeth (of Arlington, Virginia), Katherine (of Vienna, Virginia), Sam (of Asheville, North Carolina), Sean (of Portland, Oregon), and Chris (of Portsmouth, New Hampshire). Beverly gave up flying and worked in various administrative and managerial jobs to support the family for the next 38 years. At the time of her death, she was a manager for a federal government contractor.

Beverly was a lover of all types of music. Every year she enjoyed attending Merlefest, a large bluegrass festival in Wilkesboro, North Carolina; yet she also enjoyed attending symphony and choral performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She was a singer, pianist, and guitarist.

She was an animal lover who always had cats and later dogs as well. She enjoyed the outdoors and encouraged her children to learn to identify the plants and animals they noticed. She planted flowers and trees around the house, helping to turn a muddy construction site into an attractive environment.

She was an avid reader, especially of science fiction, who instilled a love of reading in all of her children.

She followed politics closely and was knowledgeable about current events. She encouraged her family to be passionate and engaged without being disagreeable and to rely on facts and logical arguments to support a position.

Beverly was a devoted mother who helped create a loving environment for her children. She challenged them to work hard and succeed, but at the same time gave them the leeway to make their own choices and remaining supportive of those decisions, even unconventional ones. After all, she was a free spirit and unconventional person herself.

She is survived by John, her husband of almost 40 years; her five children; her sister Barbara Greenwood, of Palo Alto California; and her brother Myles Moore of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Please sign the guestbook at www.bakerpostfh.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Beverly Moore Esswein, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.