Catherine (Katie) Elizabeth Tate, 89, of Rockford came face
to face with her Lord and Savior Thursday morning, Aug 8 at Fairhaven Christian
Retirement Home, following a long illness. Family was at her side. Born April
24, 1930 in St. Louis, Missouri, she was the eleventh child of twelve born to
George and Stella (York) Logan. Growing up, Katie had her heart set on becoming
a nurse and going on to become a medical missionary, but life held different
ideas! Along came a young man named William James Tate at a school function and
stole her heart. Bill joined the Merchant Marines during WWII and returned on
leave Christmas Day 1944 to share their first date. They married on June 25,
1946 in East St. Louis, Illinois. Katie became a volunteer at Tower Grove
Baptist Church in St. Louis at the age of twelve assisting the church
librarian. This helped establish her conviction of the importance of not only
joining a church or organization, but ensuring that you also volunteered to
that church or organization. As a child, she was always found curled up with
her head in a book!

Katie and Bill moved to Belvidere in September of 1946. She
was an active volunteer serving as a Girl Scout leader for ten years and one
year as Chairman of the Boone County Council of Girl Scouts. She served as a
den mother to Cub Scouts for three years. Katie served as a volunteer at the
Belvidere YMCA helping youngsters in the Day Care Program with their swimming
lessons. She received the YMCA Lay Woman Volunteer of the Year Award in 1993.
It was one of her prize accomplishments because it was so totally unexpected.
Unexpected because she herself had only learned to swim two years earlier!

Katie was a volunteer with the Salvation Army and Keen Age
Center. She also served on the Board of Directors for Boone County Council on
Aging from March 1993 to June 2002.

Katie was a member for five years of a small group from
Evangelical Covenant Church that sang at Northwoods Nursing Home. She was a
member of the Evangelical Covenant Church for twenty-seven years where she
served as Sunday School teacher, director of VBS, president of Covenant Women
and various other boards. Although she joined First Assembly in Rockford in
1981, she always maintained a close relationship with her many friends at the
Covenant.

At First Assembly, she was active in the choir, the Women's
Group and served as Church Hostess for 21 years (starting shortly after joining
in 1981). Katie loved missions and was fortunate enough to be able to go on
mission trips to England and Bolivia, sharing the love of Jesus through
physical labor in the building of a church and teaching crafts. She was also
fortunate to have traveled to Jerusalem with her church group and was baptized
in the Jordan river in an area believed to have been where John the Baptist
baptized Jesus.

Mom's one desire was to let others see Jesus in her and to be
a servant of God.

Mom and Dad had a full life, traveling throughout the USA
and to many foreign countries together.

Katie will be deeply missed by her family and friends.
Survivors include daughter Barbara (Bob) Trapp of St. Petersburg Florida, son
Bill (Patti) of Cherry Valley; Grandchildren Tami, Lyndi (Geoff), Katie, Jamie,
Ben, Bernie (Sarah), Barrett, Sara (David) and Ashley (Dave);
Great-grandchildren Jessica, Shawn Paul (Ashley), Billy (Hannah), Bobby,
Arcadia, Jake, Bradley, Cody, Ricky, Cameron, Kinsley, Aubrey, Kalleigh, Konel,
Emerson, and Miriam; Great-Great-grandchildren Annabelle and Dexter; and
numerous nieces and nephews. Predeceased by Parents; husband, Bill; Daughter
Beverly; two infant sons; Great-Grandson Timothy; Sister's Roberta, Ellenora,
Melba, Marie, Norma, Louise, Dorothy; Brother's Dean, Howard, Jack, Jimmy.

The family would like to thank Mom's caregivers at Fairhaven
Christian Retirement home and Northern Illinois Hospice for their kindness and
care given to mom.

Mom wants her funeral service to be a celebration of praise
for her homecoming into Heaven. She said that there was not fear in her death,
only anticipation at meeting Jesus face to face and sharing a reunion with
Bill, Beverly, Timothy, and all those many family members. Mom's visitation and
Services will be at Belvidere Evangelical Covenant Church, 220 East Harrison
St. in Belvidere on Saturday, Aug 17. Visitation will be from 10:00 AM – 11:45
AM; Service at Noon; with a Luncheon at 1 PM in the Church basement. Rev. Chuck
Rife will be officiating. Burial at Belvidere Cemetery. Memorials given in
Katie's name will be established at a later date. To light a candle or
share a condolence please visitwww.AndersonFCS.com.