Kathryn 'Kay' Beij

Kathryn “Kay” Beij died on Feb. 17, 2020, before sunrise, of old age aggravated by winter. In the end, she made her own decision to take to her bed, where she died peacefully, well-cared-for and much-loved by the wonderful folks at Forestview Manor (her home-away-from-home since June 2019) and Lakes Region VNA Hospice, as well as family and friends. She enjoyed the 2019 holiday season, greeted 2020 with amazement, voted early, celebrated her birthday, and last played her favorite board game, Qwirkle, less than two weeks before her passing. That’s our gal. We love her, will miss her dearly, but supported her decision to move on.

Kay was born in Washington, D.C., to Frank and Loretta Sommerkamp and was raised in D.C., within a tightly knit family of five children and lots of relatives. She attended McKinley High in Washington, D.C., followed by the University of Maryland, where she graduated with a bachelor of science degree in Zoology, the only woman in a class of World War II veterans.

During childhood summers, her parents, who both worked for the United States Post Office, sent the children to stay with relatives. Kay ended up with the country folks in rural Pennsylvania, where she learned to carry spring water, pick peaches, fish, shoot (and likely more she didn’t fess up about). She became and remained a country girl who also appreciated cities, skillful at navigating everything from wilderness and farm life, to urban and cross-country transit, to alternative lifestyles and international places and cultures. Kay emanated curiosity, intelligence, wit and playful mischief. Her indomitable work ethic was matched only by her unceasing sense of adventure.

After a post-graduate internship in laboratory technology at Doctors Hospital in the D.C. area, she moved to rural Pennsylvania to work in a hospital lab. There she met her friend, Carol, with whom she hatched a plan to hike the northern half of the Appalachian Trail. They set off on this adventure in 1953, and along the way, in Tuckerman’s Ravine on Mount Washington, Kay met Pierce Beij, who was taking the afternoon off from his hill farm in Holderness to do a quick hike up Lion’s Head. They hit it off; he drove the women up to Mount Katahdin, and three weeks later, after they had hiked back to New Hampshire, Kay and Pierce married. They were together for 61 years, until Pierce’s passing in 2015.

Kay and Pierce had two daughters, Jennifer and Karin, and, in 1959, started the family’s vegetable and plant stand on East Holderness Road, one of the few in the area for decades. That simple farm stand, with its greenhouses, fields of vegetables and flowers, Black Angus cattle and fabulous view, grew into a hub of summer social activity for locals and summer people alike. Kay presided with her magnetic personality, love of life, and corn-picking grit. Her brother, sisters, parents, aunts, uncles and their families, many of them passionate fishermen, visited Holderness every summer to fish, play cards, and enjoy the countryside. Those were the days!

Kay and Pierce retired from the farming business in 1985, after which Kay freely traveled the U.S. (by train) and the world (international adventure!) from her home base on the farm. For many years, she spent the deepest part of winter with Kathy and Ella, her nieces in Texas, helping Kathy, a florist, navigate the Valentine’s Day rush.

Kay was talented with arts and crafts, good at puzzles, an inveterate reader, and dangerously savvy at cards and other games. She had many friends, some she referred to as her “adopted” children, dearly loved.

Kay was predeceased by her husband; her parents; her brother, Frank Sommerkamp III; and her sister, Doris Sears.

She is survived by two beloved sisters, both in the D.C. area, Mary Nencioni and Patricia Fitzpatrick; as well as by her daughter, Jennifer Yashiro; grandchildren Takashi Yashiro and Abigail Yashiro, of New Jersey; by her daughter, Karin Beij, and partner Brice Bennett, keeping up the family farm in Holderness; and many dear friends and relatives near and far.

Her daughters send out love and deep gratitude to all in her community. Thank you! She certainly had a good, long, rich life. In a few days, we’ll have a page on the Mayhew Funeral Homes website dedicated the Kay Beij. Join us there if you wish! Otherwise, we’ll keep feeding the woodstoves and get through winter, saving Kay’s services for when it’s easier to get around outside and more friends are in the area.

There will be a community memorial celebration of Kay Beij at the family farm in East Holderness on Sunday, July 26, at 10 a.m., followed by a garden party. All are welcome!

Carry on! With love, Karin.

To leave an online condolence, please visit www.mayhewfuneralhomes.com.