Katherine Russell Beard

Katherine Russell Beard, “Tassie”, a lifelong resident of Jacksonville, died peacefully Monday, May 22nd, 2017 in the wellness center at Vicar’s Landing in the loving care of her family. She was born November 22, 1922 in Jacksonville, Florida, the daughter of the Katherine Baker Russell and Franklin Glazier Russell, Jr. She was a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church for seventy years. Tassie graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1940 and attended Harcum Junior College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and St. Mary’s in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tassie was a member of the 1942 Debutante Coterie of Jacksonville. She married Wirt Adams Beard, from Jackson, Mississippi on March 6, 1943.

She is survived by her sons, Wirt Adams Beard, Jr. (Margaret), Franklin Russell Beard (Anne); and her daughter, Katherine Russell Beard-Long (Doug); her 5 grandchildren, Charles Adams Beard (Heather), Margaret Beard Stephens (Bebe), Franklin Russell Beard, Jr. (Marcela), Cameron Winston Beard & Erik Christopher Long (Sarah); her 10 great-grandchildren, Christopher, Jack, Caroline, Emma Kate, Charlie, Russell, William, Virginia, Alex, Caden; her two sisters, Julie Madison (Mrs. Thomas) and Frances Terry; and nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her closest friend and loving sister, Beezie Hardwick, in 2006.

Tassie was a sustaining member of the Junior League of Jacksonville, The National Society of Colonial Dames of Florida, a member of Timuquana Country Club, the Acacia Garden Club, a past member of the Visiting Nurses Board and a Trustee of Christ Church, Islesboro, Maine. Tassie spent her summers in her family’s summer cottage, The Green House, or staying with her sister Beezie in her cottage located on Sabbathday Harbor, Islesboro, Maine, where she loved gardening, playing tennis, reading and cruising the Penobscot Bay. Tassie’s love for traveling enabled her to travel to many foreign countries and even a trip around the world on Pan Am.

A graveside service and reception celebrating Tassie’s life will be held at Oaklawn Cemetery, 4801 San Jose Blvd., Jacksonville, Florida, at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 2, 2017. The Reverend Thomas P. Murray officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 4129 Ortega Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32210 or to Christ Church, PO Box 147, Islesboro, Maine, 04848. The family would like to thank the staff at Vicar’s Landing for the loving care they gave Tassie. Please Sign the Guest book @ Jacksonville.com.