Catherine Belle Weaver was born on September 2, 1904 in Lafayette, Indiana, and later attended Purdue University, following in the footsteps of her older brother Paul. Her father, William Otis Weaver, married her mother, Anna Mary Neff on June 10, 1896; it was her father’s second marriage. Together, Weaver and Neff grandparents had 17 children and 44 grandchildren, Catherine wrote “in Lafayette I never lacked playmates”. Her father owned a Granite Works Monument shop, and her mother’s father owned a lucrative brick and tile factory business. One can read more extensively about Catherine’s early years in her book titled Family Ties and Tales.
After graduating from Purdue University in 1926 with a Bachelor of Science, focused on home economics, Catherine worked as a librarian at Jefferson High School, where she had attended high school. Shortly after taking this position, she was hired as a home economics teacher at Warsaw High School in Warsaw, IN. She continued teaching until she became pregnant with their first child, a son, George Jr. in 1931, and later welcomed a daughter, Jo Berta in 1934. She met her soulmate and future husband, George Emerson Beauchamp, while teaching in Warsaw, IN. They finally eloped on August 20, 1940, after getting a headstart on starting a family together.
Catherine continued her career and education, while parenting, attending classes at Manchester College, where her husband George worked, and eventually assumed George’s position as head of the speech department when he went on brief leave. The family moved to Washington, DC, where Catherine held careers in the Department of Agriculture, setting up wartime food savings programs for schools and the Industrial Hygiene Division of the U.S. Public Health Service.
From Washington to Florida, the spirited empty nesters moved to Kissimmee in the summer of 1957 into the recognizable Orange Gardens Community, envisioned as retirement homes and adaptable, comfortable living by Catherine’s husband, now widely known as Dr. George Beauchamp. Dr. Beauchamp had been making plans for this community since the early 1950s, when 370 acres of land was purchased from Irlo Bronson in 1954. The Orange Gardens Civic Association was officially founded in the Fall of 1955. A large collection of Orange Gardens Civic Association and Orange Gardens Community artifacts have generously been gifted by the City of Kissimmee Parks and Recreation Department to the Osceola County Historical Society.
Catherine continued her career and education, while parenting, attending classes at Manchester College, where her husband George worked, and eventually assumed George’s position as head of the speech department when he went on brief leave. The family moved to Washington, DC, where Catherine held careers in the Department of Agriculture, setting up wartime food savings programs for schools and the Industrial Hygiene Division of the U.S. Public Health Service.
From Washington to Florida, the spirited empty nesters moved to Kissimmee in the summer of 1957 into the recognizable Orange Gardens Community, envisioned as retirement homes and adaptable, comfortable living by Catherine’s husband, now widely known as Dr. George Beauchamp. Dr. Beauchamp had been making plans for this community since the early 1950s, when 370 acres of land was purchased from Irlo Bronson in 1954. The Orange Gardens Civic Association was officially founded in the Fall of 1955. A large collection of Orange Gardens Civic Association and Orange Gardens Community artifacts have generously been gifted by the City of Kissimmee Parks and Recreation Department to the Osceola County Historical Society.
The couple continually flourished here, and Catherine soon acquired her realtor’s license and later served as a member of Osceola County’s Commission on the Status of Women. In addition to publishing two books dedicated to family and local history, Catherine was a champion of the theatre and enjoyed acting herself. Making close friends with Larry Gross, the first and new drama teacher at Osceola High School in 1959, “Kissimmee needed a children’s theater to woo youngsters away from TV hours”. But an adult theater group was required first. After planning and scouting during the fall months, in February of 1960, thirty-two individuals came together, and by May 1960 the Footlight Theater Guild, later known as the Osceola Players, was born.
The Beauchamp’s were integral in the founding of the Osceola County Center for the Arts, now Osceola Arts. As a benefactor and founder, the theater bears Catherine W. Beauchamp’s name. “The town had three groups when she came – retirees, cowboys, and businessmen – and she brought them together by starting a drama group for children called The Harlequinaders,” her daughter-in-law, Rachael Beauchamp expressed in an article published in the Orlando Sentinel.
Catherine passed on November 30, 2001, in Kissimmee, FL. She is buried in Falls Cemetery in her home state of Indiana. Her legacy and contributions live on through special collections at Purdue University and Osceola Arts archives housed at the Spence Research Center on Bass Rd. Some Footlight Theater Guild and Osceola Players artifacts will be included in new temporary exhibit, Sounds of Osceola, on view through August 2026 at the Welcome Center & History Museum on Vine St.
Sources:
Beauchamp, C.W. (1989). Family Ties and Tales. Daytona Beach News-Journal, Daytona Beach, FL.
Mathers, S. (2001, December 4). Catherine Belle Weaver Beauchamp. Orlando Sentinel via Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77422495/catherine-belle-beauchamp