IN MEMORIAM
EXPANDED EULOGIES
Kay Gregory-Clark
Services for Glenna Kay Gregory-Clark, 77, who passed away peacefully Aug. 13, 2021, at Harry Hynes Hospice in Wichita after an eight-year battle with breast cancer, will be scheduled at a later date at the Presbyterian Church in Cottonwood Falls, with inurnment at Bazaar Cemetery.
Glenna Kay Smith entered this world Sept. 2, 1944, a daughter of Harold Louis and Minnie Cornelia (Fulwider) Smith, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
At a young age, Kay moved with her family to Lansing, Illinois, eventually settling in Sauk Village.
She graduated from Bloom High School in 1962, then graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism. Her first job as a journalist was with the Herrin, Illinois, newspaper. She later was a reporter for the Chicago Heights Star newspaper in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Kay also taught journalism at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights.
Kay was a woman of many talents and went on to open a graphic design and desktop publishing business in Decatur, Illinois. Always one for adventure and new challenges, she moved to Topeka and began working for Santa Fe Railroad as a writer of procedures and policies. She took many weekend jaunts exploring what Kansas had to offer. It was on one of these jaunts where she discovered the tallgrass prairie and Chase County and fell in love with the serenity and peacefulness of the prairie.
She took a job as manager of a local women’s retreat and guest house, moving to Bazaar, later moving to her “little house on the prairie” closer to the ranch and near Matfield Green. There, in 2002, she met a guy named Charlie, marrying him in January of 2004. After retiring, they moved to a little piece of paradise near Burns and lived there until her passing.
Even though she was retired, she never stopped working and giving of herself. She was an active member of the Bazaar Ladies Aid for many years and active in her local church. She loved doing genealogy research, scrapbooking, flowers, and her beloved prairie.
Through her genealogy research, she was able to verify her lineage as a descendant of a soldier who served in the Continental Army of the American Revolution and became a member of the Susannah French Putney Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. This was truly one of the highlights of Kay’s life.
Kay loved so many, and she was loved by so many in return. She will be missed.
Kay leaves behind her husband, Charlie Clark of Burns; son Todd (and wife Kelly) Gregory of Beecher, Illinois; grandchildren Tabitha and Katie Jo of Beecher, Illinois; brother Carroll (and wife Pat) Smith of Arlington, Texas; stepson Chris (and wife Carrie) Clark of Bremerton, Washington; stepson Mike (and wife Anna) Clark of Downs, Illinois; grandsons Matthew and Jonathan of Downs, Illinois; and a host of nieces, nephews, family, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents and infant daughter, Rebecca.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation, Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice of Wichita, March of Dimes for Babies, or the Salvation Army.