Heart & Mind
In some ways, Bea Gates Richardson was a woman of contradiction. While she and her husband Emmanuel (whom she fondly referred to as “Rich”) never had biological offspring, she spent 41 “full and happy” years teaching the children of others. In retirement, she collected antiques, dabbled in horticulture, and watched birds, but had a spirited side as well, as shown in her choice of automobiles-Mustangs and Thunderbirds.
While a personal journal contains many references to the lineage and heirlooms passed from her father’s side of the family, when Bea died in 2003, her estate was left to Bethel Seminary, a school richly linked to her maternal grandfather, Christopher Silene.
The gift, estimated at more than $400,000, is one of the largest scholarship endowments ever given to Bethel Seminary. It will provide scholarships for incoming students who show exceptional ability and promise in ministry.
Bethel’s first student
In 1871, Bea’s grandfather, Christopher Silene, became the first student in the fledgling seminary founded by John Alexis Edgren. Silene was a Swedish immigrant with a heart for God, a laborer with little money in his pockets. According to a biographical article about Silene by Adolf Olson in a 1980 issue of The Standard, Christopher Silene faced financial obstacles.
A “siege of sickness” depleted Silene’s savings, prompting him to notify Edgren with the news that he couldn’t begin his schooling as planned. In response, Edgren penned a letter of reply that contained the assurance, “Come brother, God will provide,” a phrase that would be a lifelong encouragement for the young man.
Christopher was able to attend the seminary with the help of loans from two friends who worked with him at a saw mill in Minneapolis. He graduated with honors from what was then known as the Swedish Baptist Theological Seminary, became a pastor, and eventually accepted an appointment as the first Baptist General Conference home missionary. After two years in that role, poor health prompted Christopher to terminate missionary work and return to the pastorate.
Olson’s article summed up Christopher’s life: “The first student of the Theological Seminary and the first missionary of the General Conference was indeed a credit to his alma mater as well as to the people he had faithfully and loyally served. Versatile more than the average, he was a good student and writer, even composing some excellent hymns, a powerful and clear preacher of the Word. And, above all, a genuine Christian.”
Although Christopher died in 1919, his wife, Anna Matteson Silene, who also possessed a strong faith, seems to have played a pivotal role in the lives of their daughter, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s only child, Bea.
In 1987, Bea compiled a journal of her own life, which she titled Events and Impressions, in which she records the salient experiences that shaped her.
“Grandmother Silene’s baby”
“I was born on a cold Wednesday, the 23rd of December in 1914. I know the weather was cold because Mother said she heard her friends shouting and laughing on their way to go ice skating on the mill point. Regretfully she was confined at home,” records Bea.
Shortly after the baby’s birth, Elizabeth developed peritonitis, an infection, and was rushed to Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Wash., for a three month stay. The journal entry paints a difficult time: “I was Grandmother Silene’s baby. She said I had colic and cried all the time.”
Many journal entries refer to her parents. “Father, Samuel Gates, was the school principal, and my mother Elizabeth Silene was the daughter of the Preston Baptist minister, Christopher Silene.” Bea, familiar with the story of how her grandfather had come to Bethel, stayed informed on its growth.
In an entry in 1987, Bea wrote: “Grandfather Silene was the first and only student in Dr. Edgren’s theological school during that first term. The school became Bethel College & Seminary. The college now has an enrollment of between 1,500 and 2,000 students and the seminary enrollment is over 500 students. The number of faculty is between two and three hundred. Bethel is presently located in St. Paul, Minnesota.” (Bethel University now has approximately 5,200 students enrolled in five branches, including coast-to-coast seminary locations.)
Bea’s father, Samuel Gates, held a variety of jobs, from serving as principal in various schools to running a small store and lunchroom. Her father’s employment changes meant transition for the family. While her parents worked in the store, third-grade Bea lived in her Grandmother Silene’s boardinghouse. The family moved to New York when Samuel inherited a farm upon his parents’ death.
Bea grew up on the East Coast, although her family made two trips to California to visit Grandmother Silene and other relatives. After high school, Bea attended nearby Oneonta Normal School (O.N.S., now the State University of New York at Oneonta). She wrote “I had been accepted at Cornell University in home economics, but tuition was beyond my father’s budget at that time.” Bea became an elementary school teacher, entering a career that would be a lifelong love.
“The standards were high, and I worked hard. The highlight of my three years there was the student teaching program in my senior year,” Bea recalled. “There were two of us who roomed together during this practice teaching period. We worked hard, but we managed to meet some of the local boys and have fun, too. I graduated from O.N.S. in June 1935.”
Bea tended toward athletics in her spare time: “Leisure time we went horseback riding, golfing, ice skating, and canoeing on Esopus Creek, and dancing with our boyfriends to the music of big bands with Tommy Dorsey and Guy Lombardo in Kingston, New York.” In 1941, Bea met Emmanuel “Rich” Richardson whom she married the following year.
A teacher’s life
Rich enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving from 1943 until 1946. He went to Japan with the American fleet and was stationed there for several months. After his time in the service, Rich took a job with Boeing. Bea continued to teach third graders in the Preston, Wash., area and earned a B.A. in elementary education along the way. Later, she became a special education teacher. Bea said of her teaching, “I loved the children and wouldn’t have missed those years for anything.”
Bea’s journal includes many entries about her teaching career, including historic moments such as air raid drills during World War II and news of the Russians launching Sputnik. Her treasured memories include children singing carols around a Christmas tree, teaching third graders to write in cursive, picture-taking day with students in clean clothes and combed hair, a classroom owl laying an egg, and the elation of the last day of school each spring.
After Bea’s retirement in 1976, the Richardsons had five years to enjoy their hobbies-camping, hunting for rocks and Native American artifacts, and collecting and restoring antiques-before Rich’s death in 1981.
It wasn’t an easy time. Bea herself battled cancer the next year, but recovered. However, disease was one thing; loneliness was quite another:
Life without him after 38 years together has been lonely, but I have been determined to carry on-take one day at time and if complications arise, meet them as best I can.
A lasting legacy
An ardent environmentalist, Bea kept busy caring for her pets, gardening, becoming involved in organizations for retired teachers, and serving as a volunteer and trustee for a museum in Redmond, Wash. Although seemingly sedate, her choice of vehicles suggests a yen to put “pedal to the metal.” Bea wrote, “I purchased a new Thunderbird last February. It’s a comfortable car and has more power than the Mustang I was driving.”
In one of her last entries, Bea wrote, “I expect to be a busy person for many years to come, and my goal is to accomplish one thing each day that will enrich my life in some way.”
If lengthy descriptions are an indication, Bea was fascinated by the genealogical connection to the Gates family and felt compelled to restore heirlooms passed down from her father’s forbearers. But, in death, Bea didn’t forget the legacy passed down from her mother’s side of the family.
Always the teacher (“I found teaching children kindergarten to a sixth-grade level very challenging and rewarding”) and a person who appreciated her heritage, Bea dedicated the bulk of her estate to helping students at Bethel Seminary, the school where, many years before, her grandfather had prepared for his life’s work.
In 1871, John Alexis Edgren had reminded her grandfather, Christopher Silene, that “God will provide.” More than 133 years later, using willing instruments such as Bea Richardson, He still provides. And deserving students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford Bethel Seminary, like Bea’s grandfather, will be forever grateful.
Notes from “The First BGC Home Missionary” by Adolf Olson appeared in a 1980 issue of The Standard, the official publication of the Baptist General Conference now known as BGC World.