Beverly J Muldoon
- Beverly Jean Muldoon (née Farr) passed away on Sunday, February 11, after a brief illness. A lifelong resident of the Jersey Shore, she was born in Point Pleasant, grew up in Neptune, and lived in Monmouth County for the remainder of her life. Teaching was her life’s calling; she was an English teacher at Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch for 41 years, where she taught thousands of students and was a class advisor and student government advisor for decades. An exemplary educator, she was especially gifted at building lasting relationships with her students and colleagues. She took great pride in helping every student—particularly those considered harder to reach—find their voice, discover their strengths, embrace challenges, and learn to love to read (or at least to like it). Her classroom was a sanctuary where students could be themselves, could be inspired, and could be their very best. As one former student shared, “she was the kind of teacher who made everyone feel important.”
She retired from teaching in 2010, after which she devoted her newfound time to volunteering with Literacy Volunteers of America, Reading Buddies (FCS Monmouth County), and the Monmouth County SPCA. As an only child, she knit together a large and diverse “chosen family” and enjoyed sharing her home, her dinner table, her wit, and her heart. She derived great joy from spending time with her many friends in retirement, savoring the local dining scene, frequenting the theater, and relaxing in her backyard oasis.
Throughout her life, Beverly’s greatest joy was her family. She enjoyed 49 years of marriage with her dear husband James, was a devoted mother to her two daughters Katie and Lesley, and loved doting on her two rescue dogs, Maya and Annabelle. With the births of her grandchildren in 2015 and 2018, nothing compared to the happiness she felt in showering them with love—and of course filling their libraries with magical, wondrous books.
She is survived by her husband James F. Muldoon; daughter Kathryn, daughter Lesley and son-in-law John Klancer, all of Washington, DC; and beloved grandchildren Jack, Anna, and Cora. She is predeceased by her parents, Clarence A. Farr and Anna E. Farr (née Ryan).
Beverly was a force for good in the lives of so many people throughout her 77 years: her students, her colleagues, her neighbors, and, most of all, her family. Her unfailing generosity, sparkling wit, and incandescent spirit will be missed deeply by all whose lives she touched.
A viewing for family and friends will be held at Reilly Bonner Funeral Home from 2-5 pm on Sunday, February 18. Services will be held at Church of the Ascension in Bradley Beach on Monday, February 19 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Monmouth County SPCA; at the viewing, her family will also collect children’s books (ages 4-8) to share with her former Reading Buddies students.