[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2735-2736]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        IN CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF PATRICIA McNAMARA BEAZLEY

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the life of a great 
American, Patricia McNamara Beazley, a

[[Page 2736]]

magnificent woman and citizen whom we laid to rest today in Toledo, 
Ohio, after a mass at Gesu Church, a place that she called home.
  Pat Beazley was an extraordinary human being. The minute you met her 
you felt like a member of her family. She was an artist of family, a 
dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and an artist 
in her own right. Her paintings abound not just in her home but 
throughout our country and, certainly, in her home community.
  Her son, Michael--a personal friend--her daughters, her 
grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, and her wonderful husband, Ben, 
just know that our entire community stands with you. We know what a 
builder of family and community Pat was. We celebrate her life--her 
life of love, her life of contributions to others, her very quiet way 
of building friendships and, in so doing, building a community that was 
strong--her church family, her community of artists and, obviously, her 
own family.
  We say ``thank you'' to the Beazley Family for sharing Pat with us 
these many, many decades. We have been so blessed by her presence, and 
the beauty of her life and the beauty of her works will remain with us 
always. May she rest in peace, and may God give comfort to those who 
remain behind to carry forward her legacy.

                          [From: Toledo Blade]

       Patricia Beazley, 83, an award-winning artist known for her 
     skill in portraiture and in depicting family scenes and 
     children, died Wednesday in her Sylvania Township home.
       Mrs. Beazley developed complications after a series of 
     strokes the last few years, her son, Michael, said. Mrs. 
     Beazley and her loving, surviving husband, Ben, raised three 
     gifted children--Michael, Mary Beth and Trish. Their 
     grandchildren & great grandchildren pay tribute to their 
     lifetime of love and devotion.
       Pat was an artist in every sense of the word. She accepted 
     commissions and she created formal portraits, such as of 
     professors and administrators at the University of Toledo and 
     Ohio State University. Families commissioned her to depict a 
     mother with a baby or a montage of family scenes. On 
     occasion, she was asked on short notice to do a portrait that 
     could be displayed at a wake or funeral service. She created 
     the familiar picture, ``Daughter Too,'' of the pig-tailed 
     girl eating an apple on the side of Al Peake & Sons & 
     Daughter Too produce trucks.
       ``Her biggest strength as an artist was she really captured 
     the likeness,'' her daughter Mary Beth said. ``A friend of 
     hers stopped by and said, `She captured the spirit.'''
       Mrs. Beazley worked primarily in pastel, though she was 
     versed in other media.
       ``She enjoyed anything from the still lifes to the 
     flowers,'' her son said. ``Her line of pencil drawings she 
     used to call `captured moments.' She always took joy in the 
     craft and a special pride in the reactions of the families 
     she did work for.''
       Her work has been selected for the annual Toledo Area 
     Artists Exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art and for a 
     Pastel Society of America exhibition and has been included in 
     other shows at the museum and through the Athena Art Society 
     and other groups. She received a Grumbacher Bronze Medallion, 
     and at several exhibitions, her works were deemed best-of-
     show.
       Her mother was an amateur artist, but Mrs. Beazley did not 
     take an art class until she was 39. She actively resisted 
     training as a child, she told The Blade in 1981, because ``I 
     just knew I wasn't good enough.''
       She also was active at Gesu Church and volunteered for the 
     League of Women's Voters--she produced a public television 
     program featuring debates among local candidates--and on 
     behalf of civil rights.
       She'd painted a mural on the kitchen wall when the family 
     lived in Chicago. She began sketching.--See more at: http://
 www.leg acy.com/obituaries/toledoblade/obituary.aspx 
     ?n=patriciabeazley&pid=169562150#sthash.VE uVwBOk.dpuf.

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