Pemberton Township, NJ Resident

Beverly Jeane Harding (nee heidman) of Browns Mills, NJ entered life eternal on Thursday the 6th of March 2008 after a brief battle with lung cancer.

She was 56 years old. Born in November 1951 in Brooklyn, NY to Harry and Gloria Heidman (nee Poorman), she grew up in Bay Ridge and moved to New Jersey with her family when she was 17. She graduated from Cranford High School and earned her bachelors degree from Kean University. In 1980, she earned her Masters of Divinity from The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and was ordained into the Lutheran Church in America the same year.

As pastor, her first call was to Resurrection Lutheran Church in Hamilton Square, NJ. There she met and married Edward Harding. Her second call was to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Red Bank. Less than two years later, mutliple sclerosis symptoms forced her to retire from the ministry. After her retirement, and until her death, she and her family lived on the lake-front in Pemberton Township.

She created and implemented many programs in her parishes, her community, and at the local Church level during her ministry, and knowing that many of them are still being used today brought her joy at the end of her life. Before dying, she said, “[my life is] the most wonderful thing that ever happened. The more things got taken away, due to illness, the fuller and deeper my life became in the glory of God and in awe of this existence.”

She loved her family dearly. She enjoyed all of God’s creation, especially the wonders of nature found in her backyard and in the state forest. She was a friend and counselor to all she met.

She is survived by her mother, Gloria Heidman, of Whiting, her husband, Edward William Harding, at home, her two children, David Matthew Alec Harding and Jennifer Victoria Lee Harding, both of Pemberton Township, and her large extended family.

A memorial service will be held at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Tabernacle on Friday, March 14, at 11:00 am, with interment in the Lord of Life Memorial Garden immediately after. Friends may call from 10:00 am until the start of the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Tabernacle, Hope Lutheran Church in Freehold, or a charity of your choice.

The family thanks the doctors and dedicated professionals of CentraState Medical Center’s Critical Care Unit for their gentle and loving care of Beverly during her final illness.