Kathleen Margaret Beer

Graveside services for Kathleen Margaret Beer, 64, Lawrence will be held on May 21, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at the Pioneer Cemetery. She passed away Thursday, December 10, 2015 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Kathleen was born March 27, 1951 in Lawrence, KS, the daughter of Robert Edward and Margaret Robey Beer.

Kathleen was a wonderful daughter, cousin, friend, and global citizen. She spread warmth, love, kindness, caring, and knowledge to everyone around her and never met a stranger. Kathleen made a positive difference to many people whose lives she touched. Kathleen particularly loved the scripture from Matthew 25:35-40 in which Jesus spoke of serving angels unaware. She not only talked the talk but also walked the walk.

Kathleen graduated from Lawrence High School in 1969 and earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the University of Kansas. Kathleen was a nurse in Memphis, Tennessee and Kansas City and taught Spanish at the University of Kansas as a teaching assistant in the Spanish Department. She was the caregiver for her parents for fourteen years in the later stages of their lives. Kathleen had a tremendous gift for languages and music. She could converse in Spanish and French and was able to quickly learn enough of other languages to communicate in those also. Furthermore, she composed hymns, writing both the melody and lyrics. Kathleen traveled to many countries with her parents. Her father, Dr. Robert Beer, who was a Biology professor and chairman of the Entomology Department at KU, identified and/or gathered specimens of insects, plants, and animals throughout the Western world. She continued during her life to have a keen interest in plants and animals, and in their preservation, as well as in history, especially that of Bleeding Kansas. Kathleen was an accomplished poet and a member of a local poetry group and the Lawrence Welcome Club. She had an outstanding sense of humor and loved discussing the world’s events and politics with friends. Kathleen attended the St. Lawrence Catholic Center. She was a very active force for prayer and donated extensively to charities. We miss her beautiful smile.

Survivors include her cousins, Don Beer of Oregon, Jane Beer Gunderson, Ken Beer, Walter Beer, Robert S. Hiatt, and Linda Keck, all of California, her dear friend Pat Transue and many other friends here in Lawrence and around our country. She was preceded in death by her parents and a cousin, Linda Beer Meyers.

Memorial contributions may be made in her name to Heifer International, Operation Smile, or to World Vision and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.