Beverley Ann Broughton Evans died peacefully on Jan. 12 after struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 83.

She was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada on May 13, 1939, the first child of Alan Broughton and Margaret Book Broughton. She was known to friends as Bev. She grew up in Sault Ste. Marie with her younger sister Barbara.

She traveled across the border to attend Central Michigan University before transferring to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she earned a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing. She stayed on at the University of Michigan to complete the requirements to become a registered nurse.

During that time, she met her husband, Lawrence (Larry) Evans, who was in graduate school. After completing her studies at University of Michigan, she moved to Cambridge in 1963 to join Larry, who had moved there the year before to teach chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Bev was always curious and friendly, interested in meeting new people and helping others. She specialized as a psychiatric nurse and started her nursing career at McLean Hospital in the early 1960s before mental health was a mainstream topic and when fewer treatments were available for those in need. She also worked at other Boston area hospitals, including Leonard Morse Hospital, Newton Wellesley Hospital and Mount Auburn Hospital. She was a passionate advocate for mental health and not overmedicating patients. During her time as a nurse, she helped countless patients through extremely difficult times in their lives with compassion, a sense of humor and a lot of pragmatism and common sense.

She was a delightful, trusted and loyal friend to many. She was socially active in the various communities where she lived. In the Coolidge Hill neighborhood of Cambridge, where she lived for more than 50 years, Bev looked after her neighbors and ensured that neighborhood traditions carried on.

In 1969, Bev and Larry took their first trip to Martha’s Vineyard and stayed in Edgartown. In 1972, they bought land in Aquinnah and built a house. They returned there during the spring, summer and fall in the years that followed.

Bev loved her time at her Martha’s Vineyard home. She loved spending the day at Philbin Beach which reminded her of the summer waterfront cottage on Lake Superior in Sault Ste. Marie. Other favorite activities included the annual Agricultural Fair, attending talks and movies at the Chilmark Community Center and Island libraries, sunsets at the cliffs, an occasional night at the Hot Tin Roof, catching up with friends and walking along the docks at Menemsha. She participated in Aquinnah town meetings.

She was a devoted mother to her two sons, Stephen and Michael, and a proud grandmother to her four grandchildren. She loved meeting new people, traveling and exploring new cultures. She was a lifelong learner who enjoyed taking writing classes, pottery classes and attending lectures with Larry in downtown Boston. Most of all, she was kind, caring and a lot of fun.

Beverley was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Barbara (Barbie) Broughton Flaggert, who died three weeks prior to her.

She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Larry Evans; her son Stephen Alan Evans and his wife Elizabeth Albert; her son Michael Patrick Evans and his wife Laura Rozen; and her grandchildren Jeremy Evans, Rebecca Evans, Zoe Evans and Abigail Evans.

A memorial service will be held at First Church in Cambridge on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation at sheriffsmeadow.org, a Vineyard conservation group that she supported.