Unfortunately it was not possible to arrange for livestreaming of Maura’s funeral on Saturday, January 24, 2026. The pew bulletin from the funeral is available by clicking here .

Gordon’s eulogy is available to read here.

Maureen (Maura) Ursenbach Beecher slipped gently from life on November 18, 2025 at the age of 90. Afflicted with cancer, she opted to have a medically assisted death, surrounded in her home by beloved friends and family.

Maura (a name she adopted later in life) lived a rich life, punctuated by academic and professional achievement, daring travel, and the kind of bold defiance that makes ancestors fearful and descendants proud.

Her unusual life began March 19, 1935 in Calgary, Alberta. Born to Lucille Harvey Ursenbach and Charles Ursenbach, Maura was the youngest of four siblings (Harvey, Lucille, and Gerry), all of whom preceded her in death. Eschewing the expected path of young marriage and motherhood, she instead dove into academia bouncing around from the University of Alberta in Calgary and Edmonton, and finally landing at BYU, where she got a Bachelor’s degree in math and English in 1958. She mostly hated it.

She took time away from school to do an LDS mission in Switzerland where she served with her lifelong friend Jo Cassie as companion. Her mission complete, she took the long way home, living briefly in Spain and England. Eventually she returned to Canada, where she taught at McGill University, with the intention of getting her Master’s degree while there. Unfortunately, though she was good enough to be an instructor there, McGill decided they didn’t want her as a student. So she moved back to the States to study at the University of Utah. There, she had the opposite experience from her undergrad years. She would often say that heaven for her would be perpetual grad school! She was awarded an MA in English in 1966, and headed back to McGill to do some more teaching.

Only a few years later, the changing wind blew Maura back to Salt Lake City to get her PhD in comparative literature at the U of U. While there, she served as managing editor of the Western Humanities Review.

One year after tacking the word Doctor onto her name, Maura was hired to be an editor and research associate for the newly-formed History Division of the LDS church. Under the direction of her beloved mentor Leonard Arrington, she became interested in the stories of Mormon women in history. This began a journey that would guide the rest of her professional life. Before long, she was one of the foremost experts in the subject, with a special focus on one of the most important historical Mormon women, Eliza R. Snow.

The rest of her career was peppered with grand achievements in her field. She was founder and president of the Association for Mormon Letters, president of the Mormon History association, served on the editorial board of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, and brought her knowledge and skill to bear as a member of many advisory boards and organizations. All this while also being a full-time professor at BYU (which happened after the LDS church dissolved the History Division and moved them all to professorships).

Oh, and she had a family, too. In or around 1974, she married Dale Beecher and in or around 1975, they had a son, Daniel Harvey Madsen Beecher. Two years later, they had daughter Anne Bronwen Beecher. Both kids grew up to be ne’er-do-wells and rapscallions.

Years later, she and Dale divorced (amicably), and Maura moved back to Canada, this time to Ottawa, Ontario, where she lived the rest of her life. Eventually, she met Clifford (Cliff) Parfett, and in a fit of wild octogenarian love, they were married. The merging of the Beecher and Parfett families went swimmingly. Cliff’s children Julianne & Roy, David & Janice, and Richard & Caitlin, and grandchildren Jennifer, Eric & Sophie, Adam & Katia, Charlotte, and Aidan all embraced Maura and her kids with gusto, and the feeling was mutual. After a few years of delightful travel and adventure, and a few more of medical hardship, Cliff died in 2023.

Maura lived out the rest of her life spending time with her dear friend Jo Cassie (who died only a couple of weeks before Maura), and with her adored nephew Gordon Johnston and his equally adored husband Gaston Michaud.

Her life was marked by curiosity, courage, and kindness; she leaves behind a legacy of scholarship and love that will continue to bless all whose lives and work she touched. Now, back to grad school, Maura. You’ve earned it.

A memorial service for Maura was held on Saturday, January 24, 2026 at St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Elgin Street at Somerset, Ottawa, Ontario.

Check out what the Salt Lake Tribune had to say about Maura: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/11/25/expert-life-lds-icon-eliza-r-snow/