Beverly (Bev) and Bernard (Bernie) Gomon

Beverly (Bev) and Bernard (Bernie) Gomon were both born in 1932, and first met in 6th grade in Baraboo, Wisconsin. High school sweethearts, they married in 1951 and celebrated 74 years of marriage together. They are survived by 5 children and their respective spouses, 12 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and a host of family and friends.

Bev found it very fulfilling to be a wife and mother to their five children. She was an excellent cook, and her family especially enjoyed her scrambled pancakes with syrup from the elephant pitcher on Sunday mornings. As a family, we would go strawberry and apple picking, after which Bev would spend many hours making and canning strawberry jam and applesauce. She basically baked cookies every other day for her kids, and everyone loved her pies (especially Bernie), and Kringle, which is still a family tradition to have each Christmas.

Bev did not obtain her driver’s license until she was an adult. One of her first forays in freeway driving was on a family vacation to California. Bernie advised her to drive at a speed that was “comfortable” for her. After going 100 mph in the Country Squire station wagon through the Rocky Mountains, she was given the nickname “Leadfoot”. No wonder Bernie always prayed the rosary before road trips!

Bev was also an excellent seamstress and spent many happy hours at her sewing machine. When we were children, she made all our clothes, and back-to-school shopping meant trips to her favorite place, the fabric store, to pick out the patterns and fabrics we wanted. She embroidered Christmas stockings for all her grandchildren and was even known to make personalized quilts for her grand dogs. It’s unclear which she appreciated more - the sewing or the time away from her 5 children. She was active in the prayer quilt ministry in the parish and generously made many quilts and clothes for under-privileged children throughout the world.

Bernie attended UW Platteville prior to joining and serving in the United States Air Force for four years. He was stationed in England where he and Bev enjoyed many trips throughout Europe during that time. He and Bev returned to Wisconsin after his honorable discharge from the Air Force. He joined General Merchandise, which was purchased by JCPenney in 1961. Bernie spent his entire career with JCPenney, first in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then was transferred to their corporate office in New York City and finally to their new corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas, from which he retired in 1995. While Bernie enjoyed a very successful career with Penney’s, it's notable that neither his wife or any of his 5 children ever knew what he did or his exact job title during the entirety of his career. In fact, to date, it’s still unclear. Perhaps JCPenney had their own internal CIA?

Bernie was very well-liked and well-respected throughout his career at JCPenney. A quote from one of his co-workers at his retirement party says, “While it was our meeting at JCPenney that brought us together, we are glad that the relationship grew to a friendship that transcended business. As I mentioned at our going-away party, “Bernie, you are the one who taught me that decency and friendship could exist within the business environment.” A good summary of Bernie’s moral compass for the whole of his life.

After retirement, Bernie was an avid golfer, Costco-sample taste-tester, and pie aficionado. He enjoyed washing his cars (so clean you could eat off the engines but never bring food or drink inside the vehicle) and was the inspiration for Felix Unger of the Odd Couple. Bernie was known to inspect his children’s housekeeping skills after their Saturday chores, and if you didn’t pass his “white glove test”, you had to redo your chore until it met his standards. He would take the boys golfing on Saturday mornings at 5:30 am – ostensibly to avoid the wait times, but in reality, to allow the boys time to golf and then get home for yard work and car washing. Bernie taught all 5 of his children how to properly wash cars (always with a chamois and never a towel!), and if it was 33 degrees and above, we washed the cars weekly. And, who knew cutting the grass was a skill? One is to always mow in a different direction each week, so the grass does not grow at an angle. Now you know!

Bernie was a long-time member in the Knights of Columbus and was on the Art and Environment Committee in Plano. Their faith was very important to them, and both served as Eucharistic Ministers at church as well. They attended church no matter where they were in the world and took great comfort in their religion.

Bev and Bernie shared a love for travel and travelled extensively throughout the world. They often visited family and friends in the US. When we were younger, they would load up the station wagon with all the suitcases arranged in an orderly fashion in the luggage rack on top of the car. Bev would be the navigator using the AAA TripTiks, and let’s just say map reading was not her forte. Each morning, we’d stop for breakfast at a roadside rest area where we enjoyed donuts and the small variety pack boxes of cereal, which we never fought over. Bev loved visiting her sister and family in Vermont, going cross country skiing and enjoying family time. Bernie enjoyed visiting his family in Baraboo, Wisconsin and going to their high school reunions each decade. Bev did not enjoy these high school reunions quite as much and made Bernie promise they’d stop after their 50-year reunion.

They were great role models for their children and grandchildren. Every night, we had dinner together as a family and talked about our days until everyone was done. They would take us for Sunday afternoon drives in the fall when Packer games were blacked out, and to see Christmas lights and decorations during the holidays. Imagine choosing to spend hours in a car with 5 arguing children! They were not saints, however. Once or twice a year, they would load all 5 children into the station wagon and drive across the state line to Illinois where they would smuggle margarine back home in crates (at that time, margarine was illegal to sell in Wisconsin, the dairy state). Fortunately, none of their children turned to a life of crime. As family was important to them, they would call all their children weekly to chat and arranged for several family reunions throughout the years so everyone could get together as our family lives from coast to coast. Good times were had by all!

We are thankful to have had them in our lives as long as we did. As they were together throughout their lives, they died peacefully in their sleep two weeks apart at almost the exact same time in the morning. We take comfort knowing they are together for eternity.

Funeral services for Bev and Bernie Gomon will be held at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, Plano, Texas, with a rosary at 10:30 a.m.

As Bev did not have a green thumb (even fake flowers didn’t survive in her garden plot, aka “the grave”). In lieu of flowers, donations to the North Texas Food Bank in their memory are greatly appreciated.