Louisa Beale Stimpert
Writer, political activist, feminist, painter
The eldest of five children, Louisa was born in Chicago on October 3, 1924 while her father was involved in the design of the trans-Chilean railroad. By the time she was two, her family was back in the US, living primarily in Tennessee and Louisiana. Louisa started college at age 16 as a pre-med student.
Louisa met Warren Stimpert in June, 1943 at a party for military officers. She returned to college that fall, but accepted Warren's proposal by mail in October, shortly after her 19th birthday. Louisa decided to postpone her college career to be married November 1, 1943. During their 50-year marriage, they lived in Spokane, Seattle, and Bellevue, WA, Topeka, KS, Cleveland Heights, OH, Arlington, VA, and Washington, D.C., before moving to Freeport, IL in 1988. Warren died August 12, 1993.
Louisa had a series of interesting paid jobs over the years. She was an Avon representative in the late 1950's to pay for the then-new idea of preschool for her youngest child. She worked on a For-Sale-By-Owner program in the late 50's and early 60's. She developed a career selling real estate in Cleveland. In Washington, D.C., Louisa composed correspondence in the office of the Secretary of HEW, and then served as the first Federal Women's Program Manager at the FAA. Louisa was always a creative force in training and education for marginalized groups.
It took 30 years at six different universities for Louisa to finally complete her B.A. in English in 1971. Eleven years later, at age 57, she earned her MFA in playwriting from the Catholic University Graduate School of Theater in D.C.
Over her lifetime, Louisa has written many plays and skits for work, for volunteer organizations, and for stage production. The Unitarian Players of Shaker Heights, OH produced several of her plays. Since arriving in Freeport, Louisa was pleased to have one of her plays, "Make Love to Me in French", offered as part of the regular Winneshiek season, as well as various opportunities to showcase other scripts, including the production of "Freeport, Ho!" that served as a focal point for the celebrations of the Lincoln-Douglass debate site commemoration. Louisa has always supported her local libraries, and is donating her plays to the new Freeport library's local history collection.
Every March for a decade, in honor of Women's History Month, Louisa coordinated the submissions and presentation for the "Women's Images of Themselves" readers' theater at the Freeport Art Museum.
The Unitarian-Universalist Church has been an important part of Louisa's adult life. She has taught Sunday School, led worship, been a national representative, and held various positions as an officer in her churches. She was a founding member of the Topeka UU fellowship. Louisa has been active in the Stockton UU church since 1993, and is deeply appreciative of the support shown by her church family over the years, particularly in recent months. She is grateful to have found such a church home.
Education has always been a priority for Louisa. She was an avid reader, both for pleasure and for research. Louisa participated as a mentor in the Freeport schools. Louisa combined her love of travel with her love of learning, participating in several Elderhostel classes around the world, as well as a "Nation" seminar cruise. She continued to take college classes at Highland Community College where she particularly enjoyed the several art courses she has taken. Those classes helped her develop and refine the painting skills that were always a source of personal delight and reflection. Her most recent interests have been in the international Heifer Project to feed Third World villages, as well as the National Geographic Genographic Project which traces the migration of humankind across the continents and millennia. Every joy and sorrow of her life has been described by her as a "learning experience". She wanted to keep herself awake on her last day of lucidity because she said even her dying was such a "fascinating process".
Politically active and often an activist, Louisa has felt it her duty as a citizen and a patriot to be an educated and outspoken part of the democratic process. Her name will be familiar to many in Freeport as a frequent contributor to the editorial section of this paper. Louisa was a life-long member of the LWV (League of Women Voters), an early member of NOW (National Organization for Women), active in the Democratic Party, involved in the Civil Rights movement as well as a staunch protector of First and Fourth Amendment rights. She served on a number of national committees for LWV and NOW, as well as being an officer of the Federal Women's Interagency Board. She filed her ballot (absentee) for this most recent primary because she absolutely never abandoned the privilege to vote.
Louisa loved language. As she looked for a word to describe her dying, she suggested "ful-fillment". She felt the fullness and completeness of her life and was thankful.
Louisa is survived by her four children and eleven grandchildren: Michael (Helen) Stimpert of Atlanta and children Kelly, Katie, and Adam; Bronwen Stimpert of Iowa City; Donald (Jackie) Stimpert of Cleveland Hts. and children Alison, Courtney, and David; and, Jane Stimpert White of Stockton and children Rhiannon, Katherine (Greg Klopf), Charles, Arthur, and Grace. She also leaves her four siblings: Inez Harrell, Palo Alto, CA; William (Carol) Beale, Athens, OH; Donald (Sue) Beale, Silverton, OR; and David Beale, Topeka, KS; sister-in-law Mary Constance (Walter) Bollinger, Malibu, CA, and her 13 beloved nieces and nephews and their families.
Louisa died at her home of metastatic kidney cancer on Sunday, March 26. She has appreciated the care offered her by FHN Hospice since Christmas Eve, as well as the ongoing concern of the Parkview staff, and all her friends who have shown her such love. Direct cremation was afforded. Louisa was saddened that her age and illness precluded any organ or tissue donation, which she would have considered an honor. Her ashes will join Warren's in Arlington National Cemetery.
A ceremony of celebration of her life will be held in Freeport for all her family and friends on Saturday, April 15th, led by her friend and spiritual advisor, Dan Metzger. We will gather at Parkview at 1:00, with a feast following at Krape Park.
A memorial fund is being established. No one will be available to receive flowers. In lieu of flowers, please consider taking a donation to the Friends Forever Humane Society and perhaps adopt a new friend in thanks for all the comfort Chester provided Louisa. Or send a donation or become a volunteer with Hospice. Become a tutor or a Big Brother/Sister to join Louisa in her Stand for Children. You might even provide a goat to the Heifer Project. Louisa thought globally, but she never failed to act locally.
Louisa's family invites friends to extend condolences, share a memory, or light a candle in her honor at www.walkermortuary.com.