Carla Beach, beloved sister, wife, mother and Nana went to be with her God on Tuesday, January 28th, 2025. She was born in Yakima, Washington on November 18, 1938 to Carl and Edna Mae Cannon. The family moved to Seattle when Carla was around a year old. Her early years were filled with adventures with her pet dog Pam and learning to keep up with the neighbor boys who were the only other children nearby. She had less than enjoyable lessons on the piano and learned to count to ten in Japanese courtesy of the father of her best friend.
Carla became a proud big sister to brother Kelley when she was in the seventh grade and embraced her role of protector and advocate. During her teens she had special relationship with her Grandma Cannon, who helped her believe in herself, nourished her love of reading and helped her feel safe and loved.
During her senior year of high school her sister Kim was born. She described this time as her first experience with love at first sight and even completed her first year of college at a local community college so she could live at home and spend more time with her baby sister and her brother.
She started attending Whitworth College as a sophomore. She discovered the field of psychology and this became her general career path. She also met her first husband, Bob Schalock. Following a brief marriage, she divorced and went on to get a Master’s Degree from Washington State University. While there, she still often thought about one of her professors at Whitworth College – a man by the name of Leslie (Les) Beach.
Carla and Les were married on December 6, 1963. They lived Holland where Les had begun teaching at Hope College. With her husband’s encouragement, Carla began exploring her creative side through painting and writing poetry, practices that she continued throughout her life. Carla and Les welcomed a daughter, Lisa, in January of 1966 and a son, Michael, in November of 1967. Carla had dreamed of becoming a mother and worked hard to be a good one. She made sure her children knew that they were loved and wanted. She delighted in giving them things that she had longed for as a child.
During this time Carla and Les started to think about the greater world around them and what the world would be like for their children. They thought about social justice, civil rights and feminism. Carla became part of a group that formed Community Action House, a local agency focused on ending poverty and helping families thrive. Getting more involved in the community would lead to other forms of involvement as well. Carla was keenly interested in helping women who were struggling with life issues. This led to her volunteering at the Center for Women in Transition, an organization serving women experiencing domestic violence and other crises. She was a volunteer, a board member and ultimately got hired as a counselor and volunteer coordinator in 1978.
Before becoming a full-time employee, life revolved around children and family. There were PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, Campfire Girl meetings and softball games. There were family camping trips and visits to many interesting places in the country. Carla wanted to give her children experiences and memories more than material possessions and this is one of the hallmarks of her life. People and experiences are more important than things! Travelling remained an important part of life for her and Les until his health no longer made that possible. They enjoyed trips to Hawaii, Scotland, Ireland and Wales plus many other places in the US.
In 1981 Carla began working at Ottawa County Community Mental Health as a clinician where she the program supervisor. She had a special gift for working with clients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, which can be a very challenging population to work with effectively.
In 1994 she became the manager of psychiatric ambulatory care at Holland Community Hospital. She became the director of the outpatient behavioral health program in 1996 and particularly enjoyed an opportunity to work on a design team to help map the future of the hospital’s programs.
Carla became a Nana in 1996 with the arrival of Lisa’s son, Isaac. She enjoyed being a Nana almost more that being a mother. Mike’s son Jack arrived in 1998 and his daughter Laurel in 2001. Carla adored all three grandchildren and spent regular time with them. She read books, played games and took them fun places. She made sure they know that they are loved no matter what.
Carla retired from Holland Hospital in 2005, a bit earlier than planned because Les had developed an aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She began a new phase of life as his caregiver and became a widow in 2008. She grieved his loss greatly, but courageously and gradually found a new normal and continued to be a devoted mother, nana and friend.
In the spring of 2022, Carla had surgery to repair her rotator cuff. The recovery process was difficult, and she moved into an assisted living facility while she recovered. She made the difficult decision to stay there permanently because she recognized that she would no longer be able to drive and did not want her children to worry about her or be unduly burdened by her needs. She had a good experience there and was able to retain a significant amount of agency in her life while receiving help when she needed it.
In November of that year, Carla became a great-grandmother with the arrival of Laurel’s daughter Ky’Mani. This beautiful little girl was her Nana’s pride and joy and she often showed pictures and told stories about her to visitors.
Carla died peacefully in her own bed after a fairly rapid decline following a bout of pneumonia. In her writings, she said that the most important thing for people to remember about her is that she loved them. So you all have been known, seen and loved by a special person and she hopes that you will remember that.
She is survived by her brother Kelley (Carol) Cannon, sister Kim (Wade) Washington, daughter Lisa (Glenn) Barr, son Michael Beach, step-son Randy (Joan) McGrady-Beach, grandchildren Isaac Boes, Jack Beach, Laurel Beach, Ian (Jessica) McGrady-Beach, Emily (Zach) Andre, Alyssa McGrady-Beach and seven great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 11 am Saturday (February 15) at Hope Church, 77 West 11th Street. https://youtube.com/live/lovO8oFe6vg?feature=share Burial will be in Restlawn Memorial Gardens. Visiting will be 10-10:45 am, prior to the service at the church. Memorial contributions may be made to Interim HealthCare of Grand Rapids, 1971 East Beltline Ave. NE, #216, Grand Rapids, Mi 49525 Arrangements are by the Dykstra Funeral Home-Northwood Chapel.
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