Catherine (Katie) Elizabeth Tate Obituary

Catherine Elizabeth Tate

Catherine (Katie) Elizabeth Tate, 89, of Rockford came face to face with her Lord and Savior Thursday morning, Aug. 8 at Fairhaven Christian Retirement Home, following a long illness. Family was at her side. Born April 24, 1930 in St. Louis, Missouri, she was the eleventh child of twelve born to George and Stella (York) Logan. Growing up, Katie had her heart set on becoming a nurse and going on to become a medical missionary, but life held different ideas! Along came a young man named William James Tate at a school function and stole her heart. Bill joined the Merchant Marines during WWII and returned on leave Christmas Day 1944 to share their first date. They married on June 25, 1946 in East St. Louis, Illinois. Katie became a volunteer at Tower Grove Baptist Church in St. Louis at the age of twelve assisting the church librarian. This helped establish her conviction of the importance of not only joining a church or organization, but ensuring that you also volunteered to that church or organization. As a child, she was always found curled up with her head in a book!

Katie and Bill moved to Belvidere in September of 1946. She was an active volunteer serving as a Girl Scout leader for ten years and one year as Chairman of the Boone County Council of Girl Scouts. She served as a den mother to Cub Scouts for three years. Katie served as a volunteer at the Belvidere YMCA helping youngsters in the Day Care Program with their swimming lessons. She received the YMCA Lay Woman Volunteer of the Year Award in 1993. It was one of her prize accomplishments because it was so totally unexpected. Unexpected because she herself had only learned to swim two years earlier!

Katie was a volunteer with the Salvation Army and Keen Age Center. She also served on the Board of Directors for Boone County Council on Aging from March 1993 to June 2002.

Katie was a member for five years of a small group from Evangelical Covenant Church that sang at Northwoods Nursing Home. She was a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church for twenty-seven years where she served as Sunday School teacher, director of VBS, president of Covenant Women and various other boards. Although she joined First Assembly in Rockford in 1981, she always maintained a close relationship with her many friends at the Covenant.

At First Assembly, she was active in the choir, the Women’s Group, and served as Church Hostess for 21 years (starting shortly after joining in 1981). Katie loved missions and was fortunate enough to be able to go on mission trips to England and Bolivia, sharing the love of Jesus through physical labor in the building of a church and teaching crafts. She was also fortunate to have traveled to Jerusalem with her church group and was baptized in the Jordan river in an area believed to have been where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.

Mom’s one desire was to let others see Jesus in her and to be a servant of God.

Mom and Dad had a full life, traveling throughout the USA and to many foreign countries together.

Katie will be deeply missed by her family and friends. Survivors include daughter Barbara (Bob) Trapp of St. Petersburg Florida, son Bill (Patti) of Cherry Valley; Grandchildren Tami, Lyndi (Geoff), Katie, Jamie, Ben, Bernie (Sarah), Barrett, Sara (David) and Ashley (Dave); Great-grandchildren Jessica, Shawn Paul (Ashley), Billy (Hannah), Bobby, Arcadia, Jake, Bradley, Cody, Ricky, Cameron, Kinsley, Aubrey, Kalleigh, Konel, Emerson, and Miriam; Great-Great-grandchildren Annabelle and Dexter; and numerous nieces and nephews. Predeceased by Parents; husband, Bill; Daughter Beverly; two infant sons; Great-Grandson Timothy; Sister’s Roberta, Ellenora, Melba, Marie, Norma, Louise, Dorothy; Brother’s Dean, Howard, Jack, Jimmy.

The family would like to thank Mom’s caregivers at Fairhaven Christian Retirement home and Northern Illinois Hospice for their kindness and care given to mom.

Mom wants her funeral service to be a celebration of praise for her homecoming into Heaven. She said that there was not fear in her death, only anticipation at meeting Jesus face to face and sharing a reunion with Bill, Beverly, Timothy, and all those many family members. Mom’s visitation and Services will be at Belvidere Evangelical Covenant Church, 220 East Harrison St. in Belvidere on Saturday, Aug. 17. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.; Service at noon; with a Luncheon at 1 p.m. in the Church basement. Rev. Chuck Rife will be officiating. Burial at Belvidere Cemetery. Memorials given in Katie’s name will be established at a later date. To light a candle or share a condolence, please visit www.AndersonFCS.com.