Meet New Member Tricia Beaird
by Judy Stack
Tricia Beaird lived in a Catholic Worker community in her 20s and says, “That experience has influenced where I wish to put my efforts, especially now that I am retired. Volunteering is important to me and my sense of well-being. I have been prioritizing getting set up with volunteer opportunities and recently trained to volunteer at Quatrefoil, an LGBTQ+ library and resource center in Minneapolis.” She has also been volunteering at St John’s: “ I am already volunteering with Project Home and recently applied to become more involved in their work. Community is a priority for me.”
Tricia has been living in St. Paul part time since August 2021, dividing her time between here and Boston where she was continuing to teach physics and chemistry after an earlier career in environmental chemistry and hazardous waste management. This year she retired and moved to St. Paul full time. “I was searching for a church community and settled on St. John’s after Shelley Byrnes (a church friend from Tricia’s 18 years in Scottsdale, Arizona) joined the staff and moved to Minnesota. Thought I’d give it a try and it was more than just a good fit—it truly felt like home. And St. John’s is a mere 15-minute walk from my home. I am so lucky!”
Born and raised in Southern Illinois outside of St. Louis, Tricia moved to Connecticut for college and has lived most of her adult life in Boston, aside from “a stint in Arizona where my wife, Drew, and I raised our daughter, Eleanor. Drew died in July of 2023, so it is especially important to me that I am near our daughter who now lives in Minneapolis.”
But Tricia’s interests are not only in the areas of science. “I love old movies (black-and-white classics—not movies from the ’80s!) and old time radio shows. I know way too much about the life and career of Judy Garland—it’s embarrassing.”
She also a fan of good beer and good music: “My favorite beer is Guinness and I can get very picky about whether or not an establishment is able to deliver a good pour. My top Spotify song for 2024 was ‘Vultum Tuum’ by Schola Gregoriana del Coro. You should check it out. It’s a real banger!”
Welcome, Tricia!
