Birth date: Jan 28, 1940 Death date: Apr 23, 2016
After a long fight with Alzheimer’s, Beatrix Irene “Bea” Clagg has passed on to better hands on April 23, 2016 in Tacoma, Washington. Her journey began as the third child born to Ann and Ted Van Hecking Colenbrander in Bandung, I Read Obituary
Oh Dear Bea, how soon you left us. I was present the day you came into Jim’s life on I Street looking at an apartment in Jims building and the rest is history. Your smile will be dearly missed.
The finest tribute one person can pay another is to call that person friend and to mean it. Bea was my friend and I loved her dearly. It is said that Life, dear sweet Life, is a gift and the way one lives one’s life is a gift to those who come after. To that end, Bea’s many gifts to us are immeasurable: her many kindnesses and keen sense of humor, her love for all things green and flowering, and mostly, her deep love for family.
Jim and Bea, Bea and Jim. One cannot mention one without mentioning the other. I first crossed paths with Jim and Bea in early 2001 and meeting them during my first visit to Tacoma, was like coming home after a long time away. I was immediately struck by the artistic touches throughout their welcoming home, including an oil painting of Bea hanging on the dining room wall. I exclaimed over the likeness and when I stepped forward to examine the painting, discovered to my surprise, Jim’s signature hovering at the bottom.
And so it began, a life-affirming, deeply felt friendship. Something special was captured in that painting, an essence of Bea that delighted me in real life. The love shining from those deep brown eyes, her fine sense of style, her silly sense of self, and the girlish grin when something struck her funny bone. I’ll be forever grateful for the presence of Bea Clagg touching my life and having touched it, made it better. Rest in peace, beautiful Bea.
Memories of Bea
The first time I remember seeing her was when Bea came to our house in Wythmen together with Mark, he was just a small infant.
I loved her right away she was fun, she played with us and brought us all a gift. I got a beautiful doll, but above all she brought laughter into our home. For us she was some kind of a movie star, she spoke Dutch with an American accent, that was something to boost about to my friends.
Of course travel was expensive in those days and we unfortunately did not she Bea & Jim very often, but when they came it was always a memorable occasion. The last time Bea & Jim were here in Holland, we went to see the mills nearby Amsterdam and Bea and I went for a stroll talking about our lives and plans for the future and Jim made that into a forever pen and ink drawing. That's were they bought that beautiful porcelain doll for Grace.
Later on Bea came to Holland to say goodbye to her sister Grace who was dying of cancer. It was not an easy time for her being away from home and from Jim of whom she was always talking and wondering what kind of fixing up is he doing in the house. I remember her siting on our balcony watching the children play down below, she loved it, we have a kindergarten below our apartment.
Also when our grandson Janko came over she would take the time to play with him and he revered to her as “that sweet aunt”.
I was in the lucky position of being able to travel to the States many times and was able to visit with Bea & Jim on several occasions, they both made a big effort to welcome me and my husband Dan and we enjoyed their company dearly. It was nice and hearth warming to see a couple still in love with each other after so many years of marriage.
On my last visit Bea was already very much affected by the Alzheimer’s disease and did not recognised me as in relationship to whom I was, but never the less we had a great time together, her spirit was still the old Bea, loving, kind and interested in the other person. We laughed and danced and worked together in the garden, her paradise, and she still was pointing out to me what needed to be done. We even went to Ruby beach for a short holiday were we enjoyed the ocean and being outdoors. We cooked a meal together and sang some songs with Jim playing the guitar. I am forever grateful to Jim providing that opportunity to say goodbye to Bea.
With love, hari kaur
