Kathryn Beaumont
Board Vice President

A Seattle native, Kathryn returned to her Washington roots in 2017 when she and her husband moved to Whidbey Island following her retirement. Prior to retiring, she enjoyed a 36-year legal career in the Portland City Attorney’s Office where she advised and represented city bureaus, decision makers, and the City Council on many interesting, complicated, and often controversial land use projects.

Although Kathryn and her husband are relatively new full-time residents, they have had had a home here since 2012 and have become involved in their new island community. She is an active member of St. Augustine’s-in-the-Woods Episcopal Church in Freeland. Her husband is a Vietnam veteran, a mental health counselor who works with combat veterans, and a member of the Whidbey Veterans Resource Center board.

Kathryn’s interest in serving the island’s senior population has many roots. Her late-in-life master’s degree exposed her to the field of gerontology and sparked her interest in addressing the needs of seniors in practical and policy ways. Supporting her parents as they aged provided an eye-opening education in the challenges facing elders, particularly those living alone. Serving as a hospice volunteer for the last nine years has helped her appreciate what matters most when illness intervenes, and days are few. And she considers herself fortunate to be surrounded by many elders who show her that life can be engaging, active, and richly rewarding at any age. Now that she has turned 65, Kathryn is eager to apply what she has learned to her life as a senior and looks forward to supporting her peers by serving on the Island Senior Resources Board.

Bicycling, yoga, swimming, beachcombing, gardening, spending time with family in Seattle, reading, and travelling are all pursuits she appreciates having more time to enjoy in her new phase of life.