Between them, Richard and Karen Kearns spent nearly 80 years working in Seattle Public Schools. Much of that time was spent at Coe Elementary School (2424 Seventh Ave. W.), where Richard taught for 33 years and Karen taught for 12 years, before retiring as an intermediate teacher and primary reading specialist, respectively.
After Karen’s sudden passing last October, the staff at Coe brainstormed ways to honor both her and her husband for their contributions to the school and the community.
“We started talking about this idea, because they do both love literature and reading and really devoted their entire lives to teaching and to children,” said Coe principal Virginia Turner.
Last Tuesday (Dec. 8), the end result of those initial conversations and more than a year of work was recognized as the school hosted the official dedication of the “Kearns Library.”
“It’s just an honor to be able to honor them,” Turner said, “and it just seems very fitting to honor them this way.”
Deep connections
Before their many years as educators at Coe, Richard and Karen were already fixtures on Queen Anne. Both grew up in the neighborhood — Karen attended West Queen Anne Elementary School, while Richard went to St. Anne’s School — and the two met at the Queen Anne Community Center in the late 1960s.
Approximately a year later, they wed at Sacred Heart Church in Uptown and went on to raise two children, David and Anne, who both went to John Hay Elementary School. Anne now teaches part-time at Coe.
For Richard, who originally arrived at Coe in 1974, the honor is driven by the respect that the Coe staff had for his late wife.
“[She was a] very hard worker, worked late every day, was always late for dinner,” he said. “But a very good person — [she] loved kids.”
Before arriving at Coe, Karen taught at Kimball Elementary School in Beacon Hill and later John Hay Elementary, before managing the district’s office of literacy. Richard called her “an expert on books” and said she was always working with other teachers about what could be done to improve or change their approach to teaching reading.
After he retired, Richard said, he would visit just to see his wife teach.
“I’d come in and watch her teach small groups of children who were struggling with reading,” he said, “and her specialty was to help kids learn the sounds, learn how to read and write what they were reading, and she was really exceptional.”
A fitting tribute
Turner said, along with deciding to rename the library after the Kearns, they also wanted the actual lettering to reflect their spirit.
“Karen was a very classy lady,” Turner said. “She always dressed very nicely, all her jewelry matched and if you ever got a gift from her, it was the most beautifully wrapped gift you’d ever receive. So, we thought, well, it’s got to look really nice, so we wanted to take the time to do the fundraising and get it done nicely and professionally.”
Meanwhile, Turner was also effusive in her praise of Richard’s work in the school and with children.
“He’s just got this very gentle spirit,” Turner said, “and he can command a group of children without ever raising his voice, and he’s so sincere and caring.”
That’s something she’s heard from plenty of students who have come back to visit over the years.
“Any child who’s now an adult who’s ever come back — and many of them have, to tell me about Richard — they always say the same thing,” she said. “They just love Mr. Kearns.”
A nose for the books
Now, the Kearns’ efforts at the school have been commemorated for many years to come. The fact that the recognition is in the form of the school’s library isn’t lost on Richard.
“Libraries are really wonderful places,” he said, “and they teach kids how to communicate better, whether that be talking, reading or writing.”
Richard encouraged young families to visit their local library at least once a month and for parents to get their children into that setting as much as possible.
“It’s always been my experience that half the kids have a nose for finding books. They go into the library, and it doesn’t take them much time to get a book,” Kearns said. “The other half are kind of bewildered. They may not come from a reading culture at home, so they need that experience.”
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