Beverly Merchant Sloatman

1929 - 2023

Beverly Merchant Sloatman, beloved wife, mother and inspired dancer, passed away peacefully in the presence of family at age 93 on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at Gosnell House Hospice in Scarborough, Maine.

She was born in 1929 to Flora Gray Merchant and Albert W. Merchant, both fine artists, in Rockland, Maine and lived her early years in South Thomaston. They moved to Rockland when her father died in 1936. Her mother later married Sidney L. Cullen, a beloved stepfather to Beverly.

Beverly graduated from Rockland High School in 1947 and Gorham State Teachers College (now USM) in 1951 and began her teaching career in North Haven, Connecticut. There she met and married Charles David Sloatman, an accounting controller, in 1955. They settled in Milford, Connecticut and had three children. She lived life with an enduring sense of humor. She loved life, bright colors, birds, the movement of nature, travel, sailing, and the sea.

A dancer since childhood, Beverly reawakened as an educator in the 1970s by teaching modern dance and creative movement, in churches, parks, community centers and nursing homes. She inspired many people, young and old, to move. She also introduced yoga and meditation to teens and young adults.

She was involved in sacred and liturgical dance at Yale Divinity School and performed in churches, sometimes accompanied by her husband Charles, an accomplished classical flutist. She was also the director of religious education at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Stratford, where she and her family were active members for many years.

Beverly and Charles moved to South Portland, Maine in 2000 to be close to family after retiring. They were members of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Yarmouth and later First Parish Church UU in Portland. Beverly was inspired by the commonalities in all religions. She would often attend other churches to see what they were doing.

In later years she studied and wrote poetry and took up painting. She loved traveling to Europe with her painting class. She would find a way to dance wherever she was, even in the aisles of church. Beverly now dances, freer than ever, unencumbered by her body.

She is survived by her husband Charles, children David, Ann and Eric, granddaughter Jalana, and daughter-in-law Bettina, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her elder half-brother Francis O. Merchant, and her younger brother, Donald L. Merchant.

A Memorial ServiceCelebration of Life will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday April 29, 2023 at First Parish Church UU, 425 Congress St., Portland, ME 04101 https://firstparishportland. org

Condolences may be shared on her page https:// www.mainecremationcare. com

A donation in Beverly’s memory may be made to: National Museum of Women in the Arts https://nmwa. org/about/ or Farnsworth Art Museum https://www. farnsworthmuseum.org