BEVERLY HALM, ASH
Remembering Mrs. Allen
by Carol and Ron Fish
Beverly Halm, ASH, Mrs. Allen, 82, of Port Washington, New York, passed beyond the Reichenbach on May 4, 2014. She graduated from Hunter College and received her M.S. in Library Science at C.W. Post (now LIU Post). Beverly was involved in numerous community organizations. Her love of cooking prompted her to study with Eileen Yen-Fei Lo, author of Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking, at the China Institute in New York City. She was a dominant figure for 26 years in the “Grand Chefs of Long Island,” a continuing education program, and was active in the Port Washington Friends of the Library for over 30 years.
Dave Galerstein, BSI, assistant principal at Hillside Junior High School in Floral Park, New York (where Beverly was the school’s librarian), introduced her to the world of Holmes by asking her to include the Sherlock Holmes stories in the library’s catalog. He also had her arrange for The Stapletons of Merripit House, Dave’s new Sherlockian student group, to meet at the library. Beverly eventually took charge and continued to hold meetings with the students until her retirement.
In the mid-1980s, Dave encouraged Beverly and her husband Jerry to attend meetings of Mrs. Hudson’s Cliffdwellers of Cliffside Park, NJ. In 2005, that scion gave her the investiture of “The London Library.” She and Jerry also frequented The Men on the Tor in Connecticut as they had a second home in Danbury. Both received investitures in that scion as “The Washington Treasury.”
Beverly became an active member of ASH in the 1980s and chose the investiture of Mrs. Allen, her maiden name. She loved the camaraderie, the intellectual quality, and general hilarity of Sherlockian meetings and continued her participation until her health began to decline.
She will be sadly missed by the Sherlockian community. Beverly is survived by her husband, Jerry, their two children, Ethan and Meesha, and their four grandchildren.
