Hundreds gathered Wednesday at the Council on Aging – “the place Bev built” – to honor the life of former CEO Beverly Hougland, who passed away Sept. 25. (Photo/Ken Jackson)
Beverly Hougland was remembered not just as the leader of the Osceola Council on Aging, but a dreamer, a visionary and a builder.
Hundreds of family, friends and well-wishers gathered Wednesday afternoon for a touching memorial service at the agency she offered over half her life to and led for 30 years as its CEO following her peaceful passing at the age of 82 on Sept. 25.
Co-workers spoke of a driven, passionate advocate for seniors and those in need, and her family — at least the immediate ones, as she considered so many people close to her family — recalled her still putting them in the center of the universe.
“There’s a special place for moms. She always gave us all she had, unconditionally,” said Beverly’s son Warren Hougland, who spent years as a Council vice president and now is Osceola County’s Assistant Director of Housing and Community Services. “At work she was the boss, but her door was always open, and that’s how she got the best from everybody.
“13-year-old me hated going on Meals on Wheels with her. When I hoped we’d just drop off the food and go back to the car. We’d ‘Get to visit,’ as Mom would say. She’d want to get to know what everyone’s problem was. Then she’d find a solution.”
Daughter Cathy Arft said Beverly’s mantra was that people with needs should be seen and to be felt special, in public and at home.
“She believed if you led with your heart, you could change things,” she said. “At home, on the fridge she had posted ‘Big Momma’s Rules’, because the neighborhood kids all hung out there.”
The family has requested that donations be made to the Osceola County Meals on Wheels in her memory. The community room at the under-construction Buon Vecino affordable housing complex, the Beverly Houghland Friendship Center, and the Council will sponsor the Beverly Hougland Scholarship. Funeraria San Juan Funeral Director Bob Healy said his company would provide a donation to get it going.
“Her goal was always to help the next person in need. It wasn’t to have grand facilities like this,” he said at the service. “What she built was an elite Meals on Wheels program.”
Wilda Belisle was a case manager with Hougland before she became the leader of that Meals on Weeks director under Hougland’s leadership. She called Beverly a cross between Mother Teresa and Walt Disney
“Mother Teresa because her heart was pure, and Walt Disney because she had big dreams and made them reality,” Belisle said. “When Bev walked into someone’s life, they were never the same again. “With her heart, she changed this county. And we didn’t work ‘for’ her, we’d work ‘with’ her, side by side, with the same goal and mission. More often, she was in the background pushing you to do more than you ever thought you could.”
Belisle told the story of “Opa”, Beverly’s first client as a case worker, who had Alzheimer's disease and would call the Council, over and over.
“Thanks to Bev everyone loved her, because Bev preached that every senior deserves dignity, patience and love. When she passed, we found her wedding photo, and Opa had written on the back, ‘For Bev.’
“Beverly kept that photo in her office until the day she retired, and showed it to everyone. She told everyone who came to her office that story, reminded them why we’re here. When she retired, she didn’t take it, she gave it to me, and it’s in my office.”
Much like she visited the Council after she retired in 2019, her presence will live on, there and around the county.
“Carry her legacy forward and help people with compassion, and leading and serving with kindness,” Belisle said.
“That’s how to honor Bev.”
