Kathryn Beavers Eagle

Kathryn (Kitty) Lee Beavers was born to Robert Alden and Frances Hurford Beavers on March 12, 1954 in Seattle, Washington. Robert served in the Navy and the family moved frequently—Coronado and Monterey, California and then Washington, D.C. Her brother Craig was born in 1958. In 1960, Robert died of pancreatic cancer.

The family moved briefly to Oregon after his death. Over the next three years they lived in Alameda and Berkeley, California before her mother bought a home in Oakland where Kitty lived from fourth grade through high school.

In the summer of 1968, her family toured Europe while her mother was dating a Navy officer sailing the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1969 Kitty accompanied a friend to Mt. Herman Young Life Camp where she learned of Jesus and accepted him as her savior. She then attended Young Life fellowship through her high school years.

Kitty graduated from Skyline High School in 1972 and from Oregon State University in 1976 with a degree in Microbiology. During college, she began taking voice lessons which she continued throughout her life. At this time, her mother moved to Salem, Oregon where they began attending Trinity Covenant Church.

She spent two summers working at the Liberty Cannery in Salem doing quality control. She worked at a milk lab in Indianapolis, Indiana for five months and then the Safeway Milk Plant in Clackamas, Oregon (1977-1979). During these years she enjoyed being involved in theater and choir productions.

She and her future husband, H. (Harold) Alan Eagle, met while attending Milwaukie Covenant Church in Milwaukie, Oregon. On August 21, 1979 they married at Trinity Covenant Church. They moved to Chicago, Illinois where Alan finished his last year of seminary classes. Kitty taught English as a Second Language, instructed microbiology labs, and worked in a lab at Edgewater Hospital during their year in Chicago. From 1980-1983 they lived in Bradford, Pennsylvania where Alan served his intern pastorate at the Evangelical Covenant Church. There they welcomed son Nathanael (1981) and daughter Mary (1983) to their family.

From 1983-1993, they lived in rural Oakland, Nebraska where Alan served the First and Salem Covenant Churches (which merged into one church, Salem Covenant Church, in 1985). There Kitty developed a ministry of singing and leading a Swedish folk dance performance group. She especially enjoyed researching opera soprano Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale. She developed this into an educational singing program and performed it multiple times in Nebraska, Washington, and elsewhere. During their time in Nebraska the family welcomed two more sons—John (1986) and Samuel (1989).

The Eagles moved to Graham, Washington in 1993 where Alan served the Graham Evangelical Covenant Church for the next ten years. With three children in school and Alan able to care for Sam during the day, Kitty re-entered the workforce. She worked for Nile Spice Soup Company doing quality control for two years. Then, pursuing her interest in education, she worked as a preschool teacher, a paraeducator, and eventually went back to school to earn her teaching certification from University of Washington in Tacoma (1999-2000). She taught at North Star Elementary School for 19 years until her retirement in 2020.

In 2003, Alan resigned as pastor of Graham Covenant Church and the Eagles bought their beloved home in rural Roy, Washington. The Eagles were charter members of Crossroads Community Covenant Church in 2003-2006. In 2005, Alan started his own construction business and began a part-time ministry as English Pastor (and later Youth Pastor) at Tacoma Trinity Church, a Korean Evangelical Covenant Church. Kitty took over teaching the children’s Sunday School for the next ten years. In 2015, Alan resigned his position at Tacoma Trinity Church and the Eagles began attending Bethany Lutheran Church in Spanaway. Alan returned to Tacoma Trinity Church in 2016 to pastor a new adult English fellowship. Kitty joined in supporting this ministry until Alan retired in June of 2020.

Kitty sang in a number of choirs in her lifetime, the highlight of which was singing with son Samuel in the Pacific Lutheran University Chorale Union 2017-2021. From 2020-2021 Kitty tutored through the first full school year of COVID and then tried to begin substitute teaching in the fall. But difficulty in thinking and speaking indicated something was wrong and an MRI disclosed a brain tumor. Brain surgery took place on December 14, 2021 and the tumor was diagnosed as a grade four glioblastoma. Kitty then went through six weeks of radiation and six months of oral chemotherapy in 2022. She did another round of chemotherapy in early 2023. During her last few months she was cared for at home with the support of Multicare hospice, family, church, and friends. She died on Mother’s Day, May 14, 2023.

Throughout her life, Kitty faced challenges but overcame them with her fierce love and dedication to her family, faith, and community. She immersed herself in the different roles she played in life, trying new things and striving for excellence, always having good humor to laugh and sing along the way. She loved being a mother and adored being a grandmother. She is remembered for her beautiful smile, poise, kindness, curiosity, and creativity. She will be deeply missed.

She was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband Alan, son Nathanael and wife Rebekah, daughter Mary Eagle Harwood and husband Corban, son John and wife Emily Call, son Samuel and wife Amanda, four grandchildren, brother Craig Beavers and wife Kim, and five cousins.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:30 pm, Saturday, May 20, Bethany Lutheran Church, 26418 Mountain Hwy E, Spanaway, WA 98387.

In lieu of flowers please give memorials to the Swedish Foundation designated to the Ben and Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment, the International Red Cross, Bethany Lutheran Church, or the Salvation Army.