Obituary: Beverly Peterman, 90, Of Redding

REDDING, CT — Beverly Peterman of Redding, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 1 at the age of 90.

The daughter of Edith Lottie and Dr. William Cohen of Providence, Rhode Island, Beverly graduated from Tufts University Magna cum Laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. On the day she received a Master’s Degree in Education from Tufts, she married Ira Peterman, following him through graduate school, a tour with the United States Navy, and corporate transfers to eight different states, teaching school along the way.

Living in the Boston suburbs during the early 1960s, Beverly became involved in the civil rights movement, first working with the NAACP as a co-leader of a Freedom School during a boycott of Boston’s Public Schools in their struggle to achieve school integration and then as a leader in the Highland Park, Illinois' Fair Housing Committee when the family was transferred to the middle-west. The Fair Housing Committee’s mission was to end the discriminating home sales practices of the Northern Board of Realtors. The goal was to have residents of all North Shore Communities sign a petition stating that if their home were for sale, it be shown to all interested buyers. Beverly was the petition chairperson for Highland Park.

When the family was transferred to the New York area and settled in Stamford, Beverly resumed her graduate studies and her teaching career. She began as a Title One reading teacher for the Stamford Public Schools, moving on to become a reading consultant, and then head of Reading Instruction for the Stamford School District. During her tenure, Stamford’s Title One Program was recognized as an "Exemplary Program" by the U.S. Department of Education and a booklet, "The Road to Reading," which she edited, was awarded a State of Connecticut prize for an outstanding publication. Soon after, Beverly became the administrator of Federal and State Programs. In this capacity, she initiated the establishment of a New Arrival Center to facilitate the needs of children from diverse language groups who were entering the Stamford Public Schools.

During her Stamford years, Beverly was president of the Fairfield County Chapter of the International Reading Association and legislative chairperson for Connecticut’s Association of Compensatory Education. She also served as secretary of Temple Sinai and was a co-chair of the Professional Women’s Division of United Jewish Appeal.

Returning to Florida, Beverly was able to indulge her love of the arts as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarasota Ballet and the Banyan Theater Group. She was, in addition, a board member of the Mental Health Community Center and the Education Center of Longboat Key.
A dedicated alumna of Tufts University throughout her life, Beverly was recognized for her "leadership and service to Tufts and the Class of 1952."

Beverly's passions were books, the arts, Cape Cod, and Tufts. Her legacy is one of commitment and leadership to the causes she believed in. She is predeceased by her husband, Ira, in 2017. Survivors include her children, daughter (Amy Schneider), son (Eric Peterman), four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.