Ebony Beard, a dental assistant and mother of two, was killed in an automobile accident May 21. She was 34.
Beard is a native of Philadelphia who was most recently living in Delaware County.
She graduated from University City High School in the mid-’90s and went on to study dental assisting at Harcum College.
Cass Williams, her partner of more than seven years, said Beard was always drawn to the dental field.
“She loved the profession of teeth, don’t ask me why,” Williams laughed. “Most people hate going to the dentist, but she just loved that profession. And I think she really enjoyed all of the people she got to work with.”
Shortly after Beard graduated from college, her mother saw an ad for a cleaning position in a dental office. Williams said Beard got the job and was able to get her foot in the door, later working as a dental assistant at several dental offices, most recently in Chadds Ford.
Outside of work, Beard was a motorcycle enthusiast who owned her own bike, which Williams said she loved to ride.
A high-school basketball player, Beard was also an avid fan of the sport and followed the WNBA.
Much of her time was devoted to her 13-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son, who Williams said were “the light of her world.”
“Anything and everything she could do for them she would. It was not impossible,” Williams wrote in an obituary.
Williams said the love Beard showed her children also permeated her other relationships.
“She was always giving, sometimes even too giving. But she wanted to make people smile, and she always had the ability to do that.”
Besides Williams and her children, Beard is survived by her parents and many other relatives and friends.
A memorial service was held May 27 at the Townsend Funeral Home.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].