Beatrice L. Voigt

Beatrice Lorene (Blom) Voigt, Houston, Tex., was born March 6, 1926, in Kansas City, Mo., and stepped into eternity on January 15, 2016, just short of her 90th birthday. Her family rejoices that through her faith in Jesus Christ, they know she has her ultimate healing and they will see Bea again.

She was the second of three daughters born to a Swedish immigrant father, Gustav S.B. Blom, and his first-generation Swedish-American wife, Mildred (Daline) Blom,

Bea graduated from Westport High School in 1943 where she excelled in art. Her artwork was displayed at the school and her art teacher asked to keep her drawing of Spencer Tracy. She was also an avid and accomplished tennis player, playing regularly at the Plaza Tennis Courts.

After high school, she worked for Southwestern Bell (later AT&T) as a draftsperson—back when few women were allowed that opportunity—then for Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff (HNTB) where she was one of a team who built the Paseo Bridge.

In her early 20s, she set out for a life of adventure in California with her friend, Shirley Fisher Bone, where she worked for the City of Los Angeles Engineering Department.

She returned to Kansas City and married Charles K. Voigt in 1953, at Broadway Baptist Church, a Swedish church where her grandparents were founding members. They moved to Alton, Ill., and then to California, where they had three children, Kevin Voigt (Carol) of Kingston, Mass., Kent Voigt (d. 1958), and Kari Voigt Wilson (Gary) of Irving, Tex.

She worked for internationally-renowned architect Victor Gruen in Beverly Hills, Calif., and was a volunteer on Ronald Reagan’s gubernatorial campaign. She was also an exceptional pianist and organist and played at Oakland First Baptist Church. They were transferred to Houston in 1967 where she later worked for Panhandle Eastern/Trunkline Gas.

After her divorce in 1979, she devoted her life to her extended family and her church. She was a member of Second Baptist Church in Houston where she sang in the choir and in many of their productions and was an active member of her Sunday school class.

Bea adored her children and grandchildren and loved knowing they were capable swimmers, though she never learned to swim herself. She was excited when her grandkids took up tennis and when her great-grandkids started learning, she bought them little rackets. She would always tell her grandchildren to keep learning and they feel blessed that their children got to know and love her.

Over the years, she took numerous road trips between Houston, Dallas, Kansas City and Ohio. She traveled to New York City with her sister, Martha, and Sweden with her sister, Marian, to visit her father’s homeland. She was always willing to help when needed, including helping her niece, Kelly, move many times and taking her dog to Kansas City. Her home was always open, especially at Thanksgiving, for those who had no other place to go.

Her sister, Martha, remembers her as a wonderful musician who advocated for her to take piano lessons. She had an excellent sense of humor and loved to laugh. She also enjoyed dancing and took ballroom dance lessons and taught her sister’s family to do the Texas two-step and Cotton-eyed Joe on a visit to Texas.

She enjoyed doing crossword puzzles and on visits to Kansas City would often work on them with her nephew, Erik. She was excellent at baking Swedish sandbakkelse and oatmeal cookies, which her grandchildren loved, and she taught Erik, and eventually her grandson, Brett, to make pumpkin chiffon pie, which is a legacy she is remembered by each Thanksgiving.

In addition to her two surviving children, Bea leaves behind four grandchildren, Mary Voigt Blacklock (Jason), Melissa Voigt Chepely (Joe), John Voigt and Brett Wilson; six great-grandchildren, Ian, Lily, Isaac, Charlotte and Graham Blacklock and Huntley Voigt; a sister, Martha Crane of Overland Park, Kan., and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her infant son, Kent Christopher, and her older sister, Marian Hamlett.

Funeral services will be Saturday, February 6, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. at Mount Moriah, Newcomer & Freeman Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Road, Kansas City, Mo. Interment will follow at the cemetery. Pallbearers are her grandsons, John Voigt and Brett Wilson, and her nephews, Terry Bayless and Erik Crane.

Memorial contributions may be made in memory of Beatrice L. Voigt to the Second Baptist Church Choir, 6400 Woodway; Houston, Texas 77057; the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22478, Oklahoma City, OK 73123; or the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692.

A memorial service will be held in April at Second Baptist Church in Houston.