Obituary of Lois Jeanne Kay

Recognized and appreciated for her manner of living every day with joy and gratitude, Lois Jeanne Kay, of Clinton NY and recently, Acacia Village, Utica NY, passed away April 24, 2015, with her loving family by her side. Jeanne is survived by her children, Barbara Ellen, Skaneateles, NY and William David, Orlando, FL; and her extended family of George Bristol, father to four boys, Christopher and his wife, Heidi and children, Jack and Wyatt; Jeff and his wife, Nicole and children, Greg and Kaitie; Mike and his son, Blake; Jon and his wife Jill, and children Andie and Georgia. Jeanne was born on June 13, 1928 in Moorestown, NJ to Maurice Umble and Lena Hoover. She spent her early life in southern New Jersey – where she enjoyed the Jersey shore and the Rancocas Woods where she often walked with her father. She was once named "Blueberry Queen" for having picked the most blueberries during a blueberry festival. She had a "light" about her combined with fierce determination, a zest for life and a childlike spirit, which all who knew her, appreciated and enjoyed. She had a lifelong love of learning and education – and was named Salutatorian of her Moorestown High School graduating class. She enrolled in Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA where she met her husband-to-be, William, the beginning of a love that lasted more than 65 years. At Lycoming she enrolled in a pre-med curriculum and received a degree in Medical Science and Technology. She also received a BA in English from Utica College of Syracuse University; a BA in Art & Art History from SUNY Empire State College; MA in Art History and Aesthetics from Goddard College. Jeanne served both as an adjunct professor and tutor at SUNY Empire College in literature, art, composition and women's studies. Jeanne was a published poet and accomplished artist. At one time she was a frequent guest speaker for Mohawk Valley Performing Arts, Utica Public Library, Old Forge and Herkimer libraries as well as Blue Mountain Lake Museum. She was a prolific writer – writing poetry, short stories, plays, articles and conducting interviews – many of which were published in local, regional and national anthologies. She received a New York State grant to write and publish Letters From Sagamore, 1994, a publication about the Sagamore Institute, Raquette Lake, NY. She also received a grant in 1995 to interview and collect stories from Native Americans in Oneida which led to the publication, Oneida Homeland . Another Central New York Community Arts Council grant supported her extensive work interviewing women of Central New York from which Women's Voices was published. She published a number of poetry books the first being Adirondack Diner, in 1993, as well as a number of chapbooks and anthologies that includes When Winter Comes to Sing and Song of My Father. After settling into Acacia Village in 2013, she started a poetry group and also organized a speakers forum, utilizing the local colleges' professors, who would come and speak at Acacia Village. She was an ambitious painter – capturing the beautiful vistas of central NY, largely Madison County. She had a number of "one man shows". She worked primarily in acrylics and in her later years produced 3D art from torn pieces of colored paper. Her first creation, in June 2014, using this 3D medium was nearly six feet tall, named "The Tree of Life". She taught art for more than a dozen years at the Presbyterian Home of Central NY. She was active in supporting Sculpture Space, Utica, NY, the Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY and Aids Coalition, Utica, NY. Her pride and love of her family and their achievements was always evident, celebrated and discussed with great joy. She and her husband also loved the Clinton community where Jeanne owned an import/gift shop from 1975-1980. In 1984, they purchased and began restoration of the Barnabas Pond Homestead in Clinton, one of the original settler's houses. Jeanne had an art studio in the house that overlooked the lush fields and a border of blackberry bushes which she often enjoyed picking in the summer months for her morning cereal. A small private funeral was held at St. James Episcopal Church in Clinton, NY where sprays of forsythia from their beloved home on Kirkland Avenue filled the church as well as a number of her paintings. Internment was in the St. James columbarium. There will be a memorial service celebrating her life, on her birthday, June 13, at Acacia Village. The family would like to give special thanks to the Bassett Cancer Center and specifically Reggie, Arlene, Michelle and the fine doctors, most recently, Dr. Canary, who provided such loving and respectful care. The family also extends their heartfelt thanks to Hospice & Palliative Care and to our dear friends at Daughter for Hire and the staff at Acacia Village, especially Amy, Bonnie, Colleen, Cindy, Karen, Ryan and Thelan. In memory of Jeanne, please consider donations to: Kirkland Art Center Children's Summer Art Program; Park Row, Clinton NY 13323 or Hospice & Palliative Care of Central NY, 4277 Middle Settlement Road, New Hartford NY 13413. In closing, here is one of Jeanne's traditional artist's statements: "Art is a vision for all ages, a lesson in a dream. 'I know what I have seen; therefore I seek what I do not know', though even as we seek, we can only create a middle ground, predictably, when what we really want to do is to lift our feet off of the ground".