Beverly Jean Repak

Beverly Jean (Hickman) Repak was born on a farm in Girard, Illinois, in 1932. Her mother aspired to be a singer, and Beverly inherited her sweet voice and loved to sing too. She left the farm and moved with her mother to Washington, D.C. in 1940 when wartime jobs lured women to the nation’s capital. Beverly attended D.C. public schools and converted to Catholicism in high school. While frequenting a social club at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, she met Peter Repak, a World War II veteran who was an engineering student at George Washington University. They met in March and married in September of 1951. An English major who loved to write, she started attending American University but only completed one semester before children started coming in rapid succession. She had seven children within a decade. Beverly and Pete were active members of Little Flower Parish in Bethesda, MD, for 40 years. They hosted card parties, participated in Caana groups, and attended Knights of Columbus dances. When her children were in school full time, Beverly started working in the Housing Office at American University. She had a big heart for the students and brought many of them home for dinners and holidays. She left AU after 18 years when Pete retired, and the two toured the US in their camper van for ten years. When they found their way to Okeechobee, they decided to settle there. They leased a canal-front lot in Big O Resort and bought a mobile home in 1995. Pete passed away in 2010 just as they were about to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Beverly continued to live at Big O and enjoyed game nights with women friends, Bingo at the Moose Club, and community gatherings at the Big O Clubhouse. A phrase that best characterized Beverly is, “She never met a stranger.” She always asked acquaintances their names and wrote them in her Bible so she could pray for them and their families. She had thousands of names in her Bible and was fortunate to keep her mind and memory intact when she breathed her last. She passed away peacefully in Dallas, Texas on her 93rd birthday after a short illness. She is survived by her 7 children: Rebecca Dail (Moscow, ID), Terry Repak (Seattle, WA), Nicolas Repak (Richardson, TX), Paul Repak (Plano, TX), Mary Heidenreich (Mount Perry, OH), Patricia Gorman (Plainfield, IN), and Ping Warner (Okeechobee, FL); along with 20 grandchildren, and 23 great grandchildren. A Mass will be celebrated in her memory a St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Catholic Church in Okeechobee on June 2 at 11 a.m

Beverly Jean Repak

May 12, 1932 - May 12, 2025