The term “living legend” often gets overused, but in the case of Joe Bevere, who served for more than 30 years in the Chelsea school system as an educator and baseball coach, that phrase is, if anything, an understatement.
Joe’s life is indeed the stuff that legends are made of: He was a star athlete at Chelsea High in the late 1940s, who then went on to play football at the collegiate level at Drake University (and in those days, Drake was a nationally-recognized football team), where he was the quarterback and an All-American punter.
He interrupted his collegiate career to serve in the military during the Korean War and then returned to Drake to obtain his degree. After a short period in the Everett school system, he came to the Chelsea schools in 1961.
However, Joe Bevere’s biographical information — the headlines, if you will, of his life’s journey — only tell part of the story of this wonderful man who devoted his life to his family, his students, and his hometown, the City of Chelsea.
Joe Bevere may have had a reputation as a no-nonsense coach and teacher, but all who came to know him discovered that underneath his sometimes-stern exterior, he was a warm-hearted and humble man who sought to bring out the best in his students and athletes.
We were thrilled to see the photo of Joe with his children, his lovely daughters Jackie and Jolene and handsome son Joe Jr. — and have to say that Joe himself looked great at 90 years young.
And we know that uppermost in Joe’s mind on this happy occasion was the memory of his wife for 44 years and the Bevere family matriarch, Kay, who passed away in 2005.
We know we join with all of our fellow long-time members of the Chelsea community in wishing Joe Bevere a Happy 90th Birthday — and trust that there will be many more to come.