Beverly Jean Rapp, 57, of Scottsboro, Ala., died Wednesday at the Huntsville Hospital in Alabama after a long illness.

Born in Pittsburgh, March 12, 1949, she was the daughter of Evelyn Wain Rapp and the late William E. Rapp Jr.

She was a 1967 alumna of Seneca Valley High School, obtained an associate's degree from Beaver County Community College in 1971, attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls and received a degree in biology in 1973.

In 1973, she moved to Scottsboro and began a 32-year career in special education instruction and devotion to the mentally challenged. She initially was with the county system in Alabama and then was employed by the Scottsboro City Schools.

She received masters' degrees in education from Alabama A&M University in 1976 and from the University of Alabama in 1982 and a master's degree in professional psychology from Geneva College in 1994.

Miss Rapp was awarded the Association for Retarded Citizens Teacher of the Year in 1979 and continued to serve the ARCas president and as a facilitator for the construction of the ARC Achievement Center in Scottsboro.

In 1981, she was awarded the ARC Distinguished Service Award for her effort and influence in changing the attitudes and thinking of the public for all mentally challenged citizens.

Miss Rapp also was the Scottsboro director and area coordinator for the Special Olympics and in 1992 received the Outstanding Leadership Award for 20 years of service. She was inducted as a member of the Psi Chi Psychology Honorary Society at Geneva College in 1993; and in October 2000, the college named the Rapp Technical Design Center in her honor.

She was a member of the Scottsboro Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Surviving are her mother, a sister and brother-in-law, Sylvia and Sabia. Jr.; and a niece, Susan Elizabeth Sabia, all of Scottsboro.

<B>RAPP </B>— Friends of Beverly Jean Rapp, who died Wednesday, July 5,2006, will be received from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the <B>Scottsboro Funeral Home</B>, 1502 County Park Road, Scottsboro, Ala. The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home chapel with the Rev. Dr. Roy Hall and Dr. John Hall officiating. Burial will be at the Cedar Hill Cemetery.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Geneva College, 3200 College Avenue, Beaver Falls, PA 15010; Scottsboro Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 315 S. Kyle St., Scottsboro, AL 35788; or the Scottsboro Junior High School Library, 1601 Jefferson Drive, Scottsboro. AL 35766.