Celebration of Life

Kelly Beetham

June 6, 2021

[Patty]

Welcome to all of you. Soyez bienvenue à tous. We have gathered today to honour the life of Kelly Beetham. Though we are physically apart, we are very present to one another in heart and spirit and through this medium of Zoom. We have come to this service because in a time of loss, this is what we do, this is where we want to be. When one dies who has been a part of the fabric of our lives across time, family -- and friends who have become like family—gather to honour, to remember, and to remind ourselves of how precious life is and how important we are to each other.

Today, even as we grieve our loss, we come to honour and celebrate Kelly’s life, joining with Kelly’s husband, Daniel, her mother, Marvia, her sister Amy, brother-in-law, Larry and nieces Sofia and Leah and all of the Cayouette family.

And in moments such as these, there are others we are especially remembering who have gone before and today that includes Kelly’s father, Dick, and her sister, Holly, her cousin Larry, her uncle, Rex, and Daniel’s parents, Adrien and Rita, his sister, Suzanne, and nephews, Ghislain and Michel with all of whom Kelly is now reunited and surrounded by love.

We can be assured of this for as the apostle Paul wrote in the letter to the Thessalonians,

We believe that Christ died and rose again;

and so it will be for those who have died in Christ.

God will raise them to be with the Lord forever.

Comfort one another with these words.

I am Patty Evans, a long-time friend of the Beetham family, especially through our shared life in the congregation of Knox United Church here in Sutton, Ontario. My children grew up with the Beetham girls both at church and at school, all going through Sutton District High School where Dick taught. It is an honour and privilege to be asked to preside today.

I have in my mind’s eye, a photo in one of my albums of Kelly in her choir robe with the Junior Choir that I directed at Knox. Those were early days in Kelly’s developing musical talents that later evolved to her representing her school regionally in high school with the piccolo. She also played the flute, and learned the violin. She loved classical music especially Beethoven. She and Daniel attended many concerts and he said she was happiest around music. So it is most appropriate that we begin today with Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”.

Video - Ode to Joy

When Kelly married Daniel Cayouette, Daniel’s brother, Michel, read the passage familiar to many—the love chapter found in I Corinthians 13. Michel, we invite you to read that now once again.

I Cor. 13 – Michel scroll the words

Kelly was an avid Star Trek fan. So when Sir Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame began reading the Sonnets, one per day throughout the pandemic, Kelly’s signing on to listen became a daily routine as she heard each and every one. She loved listening to the sound of his voice. Occasionally Marvia joined her for a reading and it was she who chose No. 18 for us to hear today.

Video - Sonnet No. 18

Memories

We have the opportunity now to hear memories of Kelly from those who were closest to her among family and friends. We begin with her sister, Amy, who is joining us from her home in British Columbia.

Amy

Next, we will hear from Khrysta Gresswell, a friend since her days with Kelly in Museum tech in College who will share her memories and a poem.

Khrysta Gresswell

poem – I Heard Your Voice in the Wind Today

Kelly’s professional life was devoted to the Privy Council Office of Canada, particularly in the management of senior personnel appointments. We have two of her colleagues with us today and we’ll be pleased to hear first from Kaitlynn-Ray Landry, who has worked with Kelly most recently.

Kaitlynn-Ray Landry

Tamara Ford is a colleague from the time Kelly began her work at the Privy Council Office and she will now speak of her relationship with Kelly.

Tamara Ford

Kelly was an artistic person with a love of knitting. Liane Thiry-Smith shared that love and served with Kelly on the executive of the Ottawa Knitting Guild. We invite Liane to speak of their relationship and those interests common to both.

Liane Thiry-Smith

We come now to Daniel, Kelly’s husband, to share what is on his heart.

Daniel Cayouette

While Marvia was at Kelly and Daniel’s home in these recent weeks, she happened to come across a random notebook and found Kelly’s compositions from her English Creative Writing course in 1987 at Sutton District High School. Amid that collection were two remarkable poems for the writings of a grade 13 student on the theme of death. The first is entitled “Freedom” and it will be read by Kelly’s aunt on her Dad’s side, Helen Hayward.

“Freedom” scroll during reading

Kelly appreciated Leonard Cohen’s music and poetry. In acknowledgement of that, Marvia chose this piece that seemed especially appropriate for this occasion, entitled, “Healing.”

Video -- Leonard Cohen’s “Healing”

The second poem from Kelly’s collection of compositions is entitled Death. Daniel’s niece, Michelle Dagenais will read this for us.

“Death” scroll during reading

We now invite the Rev. Wendy Evans, who has known Kelly and the Beetham family for almost all her years, to lead us in prayer followed by the committal and blessing.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Committal and Blessing

As we approach the end of the service, we remember Kelly’s wish that Daniel spoke of that someday when she died, she wanted fireworks at her memorial service to celebrate her life. So indeed we are honouring that request with the best display we could virtually provide. Here it is for Kelly…

Fireworks

In Kelly’s own words, it was in the month of May that she left here for a brand new life, a beautiful one, knowing this was a beginning and not the end. And so we celebrate all that has been and all that will yet be.

On behalf of the family, I want to thank you all for attending this celebration of life in memory of Kelly with special thanks to all who participated. I also want to acknowledge and thank Jessica Gauthier and Karen Wilson who have assisted with the technology. We will keep the room open for about 15 minutes for those who wish to visit or to add messages to the chat. The chat content will be saved for the family to read later. This concludes the formal celebration of life service.