Beyond the Ribbon

Feb 1, 2025 | Featured, People

Katie Beineke’s Legacy of Hope

Katie Beineke, UAFS Senior Associate Director of Athletics, sits inside the Dallas Street Branch Library in Fort Smith, her back straight, her hands folded neatly on the table in front of her. It’s the kind of winter day that could go either way, and Katie is wearing a black puffer vest instead of a coat.

She’s come to talk about her mother, Debbie, the woman whose stunning good looks Katie inherited. The woman whose short life was defined by acts of service. “She was a huge advocate,” Katie says. “When she received her diagnosis of ovarian cancer, she asked, ‘What can I do to help others?’ – never once said, ‘Why me?’ She was a force.”

Katie’s family was living in Jonesboro when her mother became ill. Katie’s dad, John, was the Dean of Education at Arkansas State University, and Katie’s mother taught junior high mathematics. “Both of them were great role models. My parents modeled their beliefs. They both taught me the value of grit and a strong work ethic. Mom loved her students,” Katie says, smiling. “She helped the underserved, the under-represented. Always fighting for the underdog.”

The Beinekes were active in the Methodist church, volunteered, and traveled to London and beyond as a family. Katie excelled at sports. “We were a family of service to others. That’s the kind of childhood we had,” Katie says, speaking of herself and her closest sibling, Colin, who is only eighteen months older.

Katie will never forget the day her parents held a family meeting to relay the news of Debbie’s diagnosis. Katie tugged the edge of her sleeve, the black material reaching her fair wrist, then hesitated. “I thought everything would be okay,” Katie says. But ovarian cancer is an insidious disease, and by then, Debbie’s tumor was the size of a grapefruit. She traveled to Memphis for treatment, but it was not enough.

One of the challenges of ovarian cancer is that early symptoms can seem ambiguous, such as abdominal bloating, fatigue, back pain, constipation, and weight loss. And, unlike many other cancers, there’s no test to detect it.

Debbie left this world in May 2003. By then, she was receiving home hospice care. Katie’s grandmother had come to help, and she was in the kitchen cooking dinner. Debbie and Katie’s dad had been watching an old movie together. Katie entered the room, checked on her mom, then reached out to dab a spot on her mother’s face. “I was the last thing she saw,” Katie says, causing her voice to quiver.

It was standing room only at Debbie’s funeral. She only lived forty-three years, but she’d lived those years well. Katie recognized many of her mom’s former students among the crowd.

Afterward, Katie’s dad did everything he could to help his children. “He is my hero,” Katie says. “I think I remind my dad of her. Passion, energy, stubbornness, leadership skills. It comes out in me, even though I only had her until I was fourteen.”

The community also showed up. Katie’s friends’ moms paid her special attention. Later, they would take her under their wing. “But there was always a void,” Katie says. “My mom was gone.”

Katie played volleyball, which made her part of a close-knit team through college. (She’s in the Athletic Hall of Fame at Lyon College.) “If I hadn’t had volleyball, my life might have looked a lot different now,” Katie says.

After graduation, Katie worked at Lyon College and later accepted a job at UAFS. Terri Settle came by her office looking for silent auction items for Teal Night in Tahiti, a fundraising event for the River Valley Ovarian Cancer Alliance (RVOCA). Katie was happy to oblige. But just mentioning the advocacy group caused her to burst into tears. Terri connected Katie with Liz Martin, who had joined RVOCA in its founding days because of her close friend’s experience with ovarian cancer.

“I’d been looking for a way to advocate for ovarian cancer,” Katie says, and Terri was the link she needed to get connected. Katie drove to Liz’s house that afternoon, and the pair talked for more than two hours.

“I felt such a connection to Katie,” Liz says. “I don’t believe in coincidences, but I do believe in God-incidences. Katie is like one of my kids – another daughter.”

Many times, Katie and Liz have cried together. So many times, they’ve sat in doctors’ offices, side by side, waiting for life-changing news. Liz pats Katie’s hand, and Katie smiles brightly, “She’s my bonus mom.”

Katie joined RVOCA, and Liz often talked to Katie about genetic testing. There is fear in knowing your risk of developing cancer, and there is just as much fear in not knowing. It took Katie a bit to decide what she wanted to do.

“I’d tell Katie, ‘You can deal with the known, but not the unknown.’ I knew genetic testing saved lives.”

In 2017, Katie saw Courtney Cook-Helregel, a genetic counselor practicing in northwest Arkansas. Katie learned she carried the BRCA1 genetic mutation. Her odds of developing breast cancer were eighty-seven percent. She had a fifty-four percent chance of developing ovarian cancer. It was not the news she’d hoped for.

Nothing drastic happened immediately. Katie would be monitored carefully. But with her chances so high, she decided to have a double mastectomy and reconstruction the following year – she was only thirty. “My breasts didn’t feel like mine anymore; they felt like time bombs.”

She has no regrets about the surgery. “My chances to get breast cancer went from eighty-seven to one.” Katie was still undergoing monitoring, and in 2023, she and her medical team decided it was time for a complete hysterectomy, including the removal of her ovaries.

Katie, who is single, would not only give up the possibility of having future pregnancies, she would also be thrown into menopause at the age of thirty-five. And that meant hot flashes, sometimes forty a day. Thankfully, the hot flashes and other symptoms are now under control, thanks to the treatment her doctor recommended.

Katie was already an auntie, a role she adored. Plus, there was her job. “I have two hundred student-athletes and coaches. I count them as my children now.”

Today, Katie shares her story at the university and with groups that invite her to speak. The results have been remarkable. “I had a women’s basketball player call me this past summer while I was in Savannah. She said, ‘Miss Katie, I think something’s wrong. I’ve got a lump right here.’ And I said, ‘We’re getting you to the doctor. You’re not waiting until basketball season is over, no ma’am.’ She had thyroid cancer.” The player is doing well now, and Katie is grateful.

Katie wraps her winter vest tighter around her, almost like a hug, and Liz pats her shoulder. Katie is wearing her mother’s gold band, and she touches it like it’s a talisman. Even in the library’s soft light, the ring glows. It is just one of the things she inherited from her precious mom, one she plans to treasure. As she continues to advocate and educate, Katie embodies the very spirit of resilience and service her mother exemplified. Each step she takes forward is a testament to the love and legacy passed down to her, inspiring not just those around her but future generations to come.

For more on the River Valley Ovarian Cancer Alliance, visit rivervalleyoca.com.

FAST FACTS ABOUT OVARIAN CANCER
Every twenty-three minutes, another woman is diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. Early detection increases survival rate.
If symptoms persist for more than two weeks, see a doctor.

  • Bloating
  • Back pain
  • Fatigue
  • Trouble eating or feeling full quickly
  • Pelvic or abdominal pain
  • Upset stomach or heartburn
  • Feeling the need to urinate urgently or often
  • Menstrual changes
  • Constipation
  • Pain during intercourse
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