Evalea Susan Proffitt Beck, age 86, passed away peacefully with friends and loved ones at her side on December 3, 2018.  She was born September 13, 1932 in Alden, Kansas and has been a resident of West Seattle since 1969.  Evalea was a registered nurse who received her training at Wesley Hospital in Wichita, Kansas.  Most of her career was spent in geriatric nursing, working at The Kenney in West Seattle.  She was a nurse at the Kenney, located just down the street from her Fauntleroy home, for 25 years. She was always a “nurse on call”, tending to illnesses and injuries of family, friends, pets, or in one memorable instance, a local construction worker seriously injured on the job. Evalea mentored many young men and women who eventually made nursing their career. 

She loved gardening, antique collecting and her beloved pets, ranging from stray dogs and cats to rescued turtles and birds.  She traveled widely with her husband Clark in their retirement years, was active in her church and with the sorority Beta Sigma Phi. She always lent a kind and compassionate ear to family, friends and co-workers with her loving, wise and reassuring presence as an advisor and confidante. She and her husband Clark were active in leadership at Seattle First Christian and All Pilgrims Christian Church on Capitol Hill.  Clark and Evalea lived out Christian values of inclusion and ministry to the marginalized.  Evalea was active as a member of the Multi-Faith AIDS project care teams at Seattle First Christian and All Pilgrims. Evalea, a Western Kansas farm girl, born in the midst of the Great Depression, always loved returning to her home state every year with her late husband of 61 years, Clark Beck, visiting friends and family in Kansas.  “There’s no place like home.”

Evalea is survived by two sons Dave (Kathleen) Beck and Dan (Toni) Beck, and was grandmother to Malcolm, Helene, Leah (mother Leslie Beck), Khrystal, Ashley and Savannah. We celebrate Evalea’s life on Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 2PM at All Pilgrims Christian Church, 500 Broadway East, Seattle 98102.  Memorials can be made in her name to All Pilgrims Christian Church.