Kathryn Eleanor Barnes Bearrie

Devoted to her faith, her family, and her many friends, Kathryn created a warm and nurturing home from which she cared for her loved ones, hosted her friends, and traveled the world.

Kathryn was born in Donie, Texas, September 22, 1916, to Charles Sydney and Arnie Mavelton Oakes Barnes and was raised, along with her two sisters, in Malone where her father was a grocer and postman.

At the age of 18, she graduated from North Texas State Teachers College (now the University of North Texas) in the Class of 1935.

Three years later she married John Lord Bearrie, Sr., and, in 1939, the couple moved to College Station where Kathryn had been hired as part of the Federal Recovery Program. Later she worked for the A&M Creamery and for many years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In College Station, Kathryn and John raised their two children, John, Jr. and Janet; began a lifelong commitment of service and fellowship at First Baptist Church; and became part of a circle of friends who would walk together through the blessings and difficulties of their lives.

Kathryn loved time with her friends and family, good food, reading, tending her plants and flowers, enjoying her pets, playing games, and traveling. After her retirement, she visited Canada, Mexico, and Europe multiple times and cherished the opportunity to visit the Holy Land with her children and their spouses.

A woman of character and truth, Kathryn invested herself in serving people by helping those around her. She loved her grandchildren and assigned each a day of the week she would spend praying for that loved one. She faithfully loved and cared for her husband all of their life together.

Kathryn leaves behind her a family indebted to her goodness and care: her son and daughter-in-law, John and Sue Bearrie of Colleyville; her daughter and son-in-law, Janet and Darrell Smith of Boerne; her grandchildren, Laura, Jonathon, John III, Dinah, Roger, Darrell, and Frances; and 17 great-grandchildren.

Grateful for God’s gift of Kathryn to our lives, we will miss her laugh, her wisdom, and her home, and we rejoice that she is now forever in the presence of the Lord and of loved ones she has missed for so long.

Funeral services will take place at First Baptist Church, College Station, at 11:00 a.m., Monday, September 6, 2010 with visitation immediately prior at the church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First Baptist Church, College Station, or Hospice Brazos Valley.