Orlando Sentinel - Dec. 4, 2001
By Sandra Mathers, Sentinel Staff Writer
Catherine Weaver Beauchamp came to Kissimmee in 1954, when it was little more than a rural cattle town. But she had a hand in changing much of its frontier image.
Beauchamp, a patron of the arts who brought culture to cowboys by establishing Kissimmee's first theater group and by helping establish the Osceola Center for the Arts, died Friday, Nov. 30, of pneumonia. She was 97.
Born in Lafayette, Ind., she graduated from Purdue University in 1926 with a degree in home economics and became a teacher. She met her husband, George Beauchamp, while teaching in Warsaw, Ind., and when he took a government job in Washington, D.C., she taught his speech and debate classes at Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind.
In 1943, Catherine Beauchamp joined her husband in Washington and worked for the Department of Agriculture as editor of the Home Demonstration Agents' newsletter. She also formed the Federal Editors Association in 1953 and became its first president.
In 1954, when her husband's government job was eliminated, he moved to Kissimmee, where he built the city's first subdivision, Orange Gardens. Geared to seniors, it was the first major addition to the city since 1922, said the couple's son, George Beauchamp of Kissimmee.
Catherine Beauchamp, who had remained in Washington, joined her husband in 1957. While he developed the subdivision's 650 homes, she became a real estate agent and broker to help sell them.
Within a year, she became the organizing energy behind the Footlight Players Guild, now the Osceola Players.
"The town had three groups when she came - re-tirees, cowboys and businessmen - and she brought them together by starting a drama group for children called The Harlequinaders," said her daughter-in-law, Rachael Beauchamp of Kissimmee. "The parents met through the children."
Catherine Beauchamp was a benefactor and adviser for the arts center. The building's theater is named in her honor.
She also wrote two, self-published books - an auto-biography detailing her family history, Family Ties and Tales, and What's Happened in Osceola County, a history of her adopted county.
She also is survived by a daughter, JoBerta Beauchamp Underwood of Schenectady, N.Y.; six grandchildren; and six great-grand-children.
Conrad and Thompson Funeral Home in Kissimmee is handling arrangements.
By Sandra Mathers, Sentinel Staff Writer
Catherine Weaver Beauchamp came to Kissimmee in 1954, when it was little more than a rural cattle town. But she had a hand in changing much of its frontier image.
Beauchamp, a patron of the arts who brought culture to cowboys by establishing Kissimmee's first theater group and by helping establish the Osceola Center for the Arts, died Friday, Nov. 30, of pneumonia. She was 97.
Born in Lafayette, Ind., she graduated from Purdue University in 1926 with a degree in home economics and became a teacher. She met her husband, George Beauchamp, while teaching in Warsaw, Ind., and when he took a government job in Washington, D.C., she taught his speech and debate classes at Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind.
In 1943, Catherine Beauchamp joined her husband in Washington and worked for the Department of Agriculture as editor of the Home Demonstration Agents' newsletter. She also formed the Federal Editors Association in 1953 and became its first president.
In 1954, when her husband's government job was eliminated, he moved to Kissimmee, where he built the city's first subdivision, Orange Gardens. Geared to seniors, it was the first major addition to the city since 1922, said the couple's son, George Beauchamp of Kissimmee.
Catherine Beauchamp, who had remained in Washington, joined her husband in 1957. While he developed the subdivision's 650 homes, she became a real estate agent and broker to help sell them.
Within a year, she became the organizing energy behind the Footlight Players Guild, now the Osceola Players.
"The town had three groups when she came - re-tirees, cowboys and businessmen - and she brought them together by starting a drama group for children called The Harlequinaders," said her daughter-in-law, Rachael Beauchamp of Kissimmee. "The parents met through the children."
Catherine Beauchamp was a benefactor and adviser for the arts center. The building's theater is named in her honor.
She also wrote two, self-published books - an auto-biography detailing her family history, Family Ties and Tales, and What's Happened in Osceola County, a history of her adopted county.
She also is survived by a daughter, JoBerta Beauchamp Underwood of Schenectady, N.Y.; six grandchildren; and six great-grand-children.
Conrad and Thompson Funeral Home in Kissimmee is handling arrangements.
Orlando Sentinel - Dec. 4, 2001
By Sandra Mathers, Sentinel Staff Writer
Catherine Weaver Beauchamp came to Kissimmee in 1954, when it was little more than a rural cattle town. But she had a hand in changing much of its frontier image.
Beauchamp, a patron of the arts who brought culture to cowboys by establishing Kissimmee's first theater group and by helping establish the Osceola Center for the Arts, died Friday, Nov. 30, of pneumonia. She was 97.
Born in Lafayette, Ind., she graduated from Purdue University in 1926 with a degree in home economics and became a teacher. She met her husband, George Beauchamp, while teaching in Warsaw, Ind., and when he took a government job in Washington, D.C., she taught his speech and debate classes at Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind.
In 1943, Catherine Beauchamp joined her husband in Washington and worked for the Department of Agriculture as editor of the Home Demonstration Agents' newsletter. She also formed the Federal Editors Association in 1953 and became its first president.
In 1954, when her husband's government job was eliminated, he moved to Kissimmee, where he built the city's first subdivision, Orange Gardens. Geared to seniors, it was the first major addition to the city since 1922, said the couple's son, George Beauchamp of Kissimmee.
Catherine Beauchamp, who had remained in Washington, joined her husband in 1957. While he developed the subdivision's 650 homes, she became a real estate agent and broker to help sell them.
Within a year, she became the organizing energy behind the Footlight Players Guild, now the Osceola Players.
"The town had three groups when she came - re-tirees, cowboys and businessmen - and she brought them together by starting a drama group for children called The Harlequinaders," said her daughter-in-law, Rachael Beauchamp of Kissimmee. "The parents met through the children."
Catherine Beauchamp was a benefactor and adviser for the arts center. The building's theater is named in her honor.
She also wrote two, self-published books - an auto-biography detailing her family history, Family Ties and Tales, and What's Happened in Osceola County, a history of her adopted county.
She also is survived by a daughter, JoBerta Beauchamp Underwood of Schenectady, N.Y.; six grandchildren; and six great-grand-children.
Conrad and Thompson Funeral Home in Kissimmee is handling arrangements.
By Sandra Mathers, Sentinel Staff Writer
Catherine Weaver Beauchamp came to Kissimmee in 1954, when it was little more than a rural cattle town. But she had a hand in changing much of its frontier image.
Beauchamp, a patron of the arts who brought culture to cowboys by establishing Kissimmee's first theater group and by helping establish the Osceola Center for the Arts, died Friday, Nov. 30, of pneumonia. She was 97.
Born in Lafayette, Ind., she graduated from Purdue University in 1926 with a degree in home economics and became a teacher. She met her husband, George Beauchamp, while teaching in Warsaw, Ind., and when he took a government job in Washington, D.C., she taught his speech and debate classes at Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind.
In 1943, Catherine Beauchamp joined her husband in Washington and worked for the Department of Agriculture as editor of the Home Demonstration Agents' newsletter. She also formed the Federal Editors Association in 1953 and became its first president.
In 1954, when her husband's government job was eliminated, he moved to Kissimmee, where he built the city's first subdivision, Orange Gardens. Geared to seniors, it was the first major addition to the city since 1922, said the couple's son, George Beauchamp of Kissimmee.
Catherine Beauchamp, who had remained in Washington, joined her husband in 1957. While he developed the subdivision's 650 homes, she became a real estate agent and broker to help sell them.
Within a year, she became the organizing energy behind the Footlight Players Guild, now the Osceola Players.
"The town had three groups when she came - re-tirees, cowboys and businessmen - and she brought them together by starting a drama group for children called The Harlequinaders," said her daughter-in-law, Rachael Beauchamp of Kissimmee. "The parents met through the children."
Catherine Beauchamp was a benefactor and adviser for the arts center. The building's theater is named in her honor.
She also wrote two, self-published books - an auto-biography detailing her family history, Family Ties and Tales, and What's Happened in Osceola County, a history of her adopted county.
She also is survived by a daughter, JoBerta Beauchamp Underwood of Schenectady, N.Y.; six grandchildren; and six great-grand-children.
Conrad and Thompson Funeral Home in Kissimmee is handling arrangements.
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