Beverly Hoglund

            Bev Hoglund died on January 20, in Naples, Florida after a long struggle with dementia. She was born on April 6, 1936 in Melbourne, Australia to American parents, Richard and Melissa Scales. When she was just a few months old, the family sailed home to the United States to settle in Birmingham, Michigan, where Bev spent her entire childhood and many years of her adult life.
            Bev graduated from The Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills in 1954. She went on to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she joined the Tri Delta Sorority, served as its President, and graduated with a BA in Education in 1958.
            She married Bill Hoglund, a skinny, shy (according to him) grad student at UofM Business School. When Bill joined General Motors as an entry level accountant, she became a General Motors wife, which was a respected career for a woman in the late 1950’s. She performed this job with exceptional grace and ability for the next 40 years. Bill would be the first one to tell you that any success he found in his professional life was thanks to Bev Hoglund.
            Bev and Bill had four children, Melissa, Cindy, Susan and Peter. As their family grew, General Motors transferred them every other year to places like Kansas City and New York. Every time they got the call, Bev handled the logistics like a pro; she would sell one house, buy another, pack and unpack entire households, enroll children in new schools and keep everybody happy at the same time.
            In spite of all the moving Birmingham was always her hometown. As a longtime member of the Junior League she helped open the Bargain Box over 50 years ago to provide an ongoing source of income for the organization. She raised $2.7 million to renovate The Community House and conceived of the annual “Our Town” Art Fair that continues to this day. She was named as the “Birmingham-Bloomfield First Citizen of 1989” in recognition of her “willingness to work tirelessly for a cause.”

            Bev served on the Board of Trustees of The Cranbrook Schools, worked as Assistant Director of Admissions for Detroit Country Day School and as Director of Admissions for Kingswood School Cranbrook.
            Bev and Bill learned to ski at Nub’s Nob in 1965, which launched the longtime family tradition of skiing Up North. Eventually they bought a house in Harbor Springs where their family grew and gathered year-round. Golf and friends were always at the top of the agenda. Harbor Springs became the place where, essentially, grandchildren were spoiled rotten. Bev and Bill spent winters in Naples, Florida where the same priorities prevailed; enjoy friends, play golf, spoil grandchildren.
            Bev was predeceased by her 17-year-old daughter Susan in a car accident in 1979; a life-changing event during which she displayed the bravery and generosity of spirit that guided her entire family through the process of healing. She lost her husband Bill in 2014.
            She is survived by her children Melissa, Cindy (Steve Shannon) and Peter (Amy Mayhew), grandchildren Drew (Sarah), DB (Dana), Stuart (Caroline), Susan (Justin), Maggie (Cal), Alex (Blair), Kemper, Peter and Abby, and her great-grandsons Owen and William. She is also survived by her beloved brother Doug Scales, his wife Wendy, their children Jonathan and Michael and their families.
            A private service will be held on Lake Michigan in the summer.