The Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts announces the passing of Beverly Wingate Maloof, widow of Sam Maloof, champion of historic preservation and the environment. Beverly was 94.

In 2001, Beverly Wingate married long-time friend, widower, and distinguished woodworker Sam Maloof, who had received the MacArthur Fellowship (known as the "Genius Grant") in 1985. Beverly had first met Sam in 1958 at the Los Angeles County Fair where he was exhibiting his handmade furniture in the renowned Millard Sheets-curated design exhibition. Beverly ordered a table from Sam, and they became life-long friends.

For Beverly and Sam, the year 2001 was a whirlwind. It included not only their marriage and a trip to Washington D.C. for Sam’s retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, but it also marked the completion of the ambitious and multi-year-long Maloof historic home relocation project. This saw the home of Sam and Alfreda Maloof moved to its new and current site, making way for the 210 freeway.

On the new site, Beverly envisioned, championed, secured funding for, and ultimately designed (along with Rick Fisher) the Maloof Discovery Garden. The Garden demonstrates sustainable, water-wise landscaping with California native and Mediterranean plants and is a certified wildlife habitat.

As a Board of Director of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation, Beverly was revered for her warm social events for neighbors, donors and volunteers, and she was sure to serenade each Maloof Foundation staff member on their birthday with a song that she learned from her mother. A prolific fundraiser and a great connector of people, Beverly had a tremendous impact on the Maloof Foundation.

“My mother’s commitment to the Maloof was an example of how she lived her life—always in service of the greater community,” says Todd Wingate, Beverly’s son. 

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For those who wish to make a donation to the Foundation in Beverly's honor:

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