Sigrid C. Beecher - Obituary

igrid (Sig) Carla Beecher, a retired Hospice nurse and active church member, of Annapolis, MD, died on June 14, 2021. The cause of her death was a combination of heart and kidney diseases. Sig was born December 21, 1939, in Milwaukee, WI to William and Carla (Johnson) Pierce. She and Gary Beecher were united in marriage Aug 4, 1962, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI. In August of 2019, she and Gary joyfully celebrated their 80th birthdays together with family and many friends. Sigrid attended schools in the Milwaukee area and graduated from Rufus King High School. She attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN and Madison (WI) General Hospital School of Nursing. Sig served as a Registered Nurse in hospitals in Madison WI, Manhattan KS, and Baltimore and Laurel MD. She worked in several specialties, but especially enjoyed working in Labor and Delivery and with new moms and newborns. She was a member of Mayor William Donald Schaefer’s ‘trial’ Hospice-Home Health Care program in Baltimore where she learned many of the hospice principles outlined by Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Rossof Great Britain. Subsequently Sig worked as a Hospice Nurse with Montgomery County (MD) Hospice and with several Visiting Nurse Associations in the greater Washington, DC area. She dearly loved her interaction with hospice patients and their families, regardless of the hour of day and the weather conditions. Her efforts and compassion as a Hospice Nurse were highlighted in a Montgomery County (MD) Journal article in 1985. She retired from active nursing in 1998 for health reasons. Sig balanced an active nursing career with family and church life. She and her husband, Gary, raised three daughters. Sig was an active member of Lutheran and Methodist churches wherever they lived. Sig loved to sing and passed that love to her children and community. She started her singing avocation in high school, continued at St Olaf College, and in church and community choirs throughout her life. Sig was often a soloist and a member of small ensembles that offered special music. Sig also enjoyed knitting, creating countless sweaters, both baby and adult, and passed that love to others, teaching her daughters and even medical fellows the art. Sig and a fellow member of All Saints Lutheran Church in Bowie, MD started a Prayer Shawl Ministry; ten years later this group had prepared over 500 prayer shawls that were distributed by clergy, sent to friends and relatives, or donated to churches in disaster areas in America. Sig was a ‘people person’. She loved to be around and interact with people which attracted her to the nursing profession. Sig adored babies, not only her grandchildren but all babies – neighbor’s babies and friend’s babies; she even substituted as a ‘grandmother’ during delivery by a friend from New Zealand. She loved to travel; she and Gary toured Canada and much of America especially when they were ‘snowbirds’ in Arizona. Sig also accompanied Gary on several overseas business trips where they took time to tour the region and adjacent countries. After moving to the East coast in 1971, Sig and her family resided in West Laurel, MD. In the early 1990’s, she and her husband designed and built their home in Southern Anne Arundel County, MD, where they resided for 25 years before moving to Annapolis. She is survived by her husband, Gary, of 58 years; daughters, Julie Beecher (Patrick Costigan) of Severna Park, MD, Jennifer Lastova (Mark) of Columbia MD, Jody Beecher (VJ Sahi) of Oakville, Ontario, Canada; grandchildren, Scott and Kathyrn Lastova, Mira and Ethan Sahi; sister Kristine Schoonenberg (Don) of Mequon, WI; brother-in-law Craig Beecher (Elizabeth) of Belgium, WI; sister-in-law Carla Baudais (Frederick) of Elkhorn, Wi; several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, William Jr. and her sister-in-Law, Diana LaTonders Pierce. Celebration of Life Services will be held August 7, 2021, at 11:00 AM at St Martin’s Lutheran Church, 1120 Spa Rd, Annapolis, MD. Interment at St Martin’s Lutheran Church Peace Garden will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake, 90 Ritchie Highway, Pasadena, MD 21122 Online Here or to St Martin’s Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, 1120 Spa Road, Annapolis, MD 21403 Online Here The family expresses its thanks and gratitude to the nurses and medical staff of Anne Arundel Medical Center, the caregivers of Hospice of the Chesapeake, and the medical support of the greater Annapolis community, Sig’s Legend: “A Nurse is One who Opens the Eyes of a Newborn & gently Closes the Eyes of a Dying Man. It is indeed a huge Blessing to be First and Last to Witness the Beginning and End of Life.” Anon.