Kay Grant Martin

1943 - 2021

Kay Grant Martin, of Pawleys Island, S.C., and Brewster, Mass., died on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 peacefully and gracefully after a year-long battle with cancer. She was under the care of the Visiting Nurse Association Hospice team at her summer home in Brewster, Mass.

Kay was the daughter of noted illustrator and commercial artist Vernon S. P. Grant and Elizabeth Lib Fewell Grant of Rock Hill, S.C.

She is survived by her husband, former longtime WBRE-TV anchorman and Pennsylvania National Guard colonel Keith Martin. They lived in Shavertown from 1990 to 2003 where they made and maintained many close friendships. She is also survived by a brother, Vernon O. "Chip" Grant, Rock Hill; and sons, Douglas Grant Simon, Phoenix Ariz.; and Bart Ivan Simon, Boston. She was blessed with four grandchildren, Ava, 16, Barrett, 14, Miller, 9, and Forde, 6.

Kay was born in New York City, moving to Rock Hill in 1945 to grow up on the family farm where her father continued his career as an artist, managed the farm and served in several leadership positions in city government.

She attended Oakdale Elementary school from first through the eighth grades and then attended Rock Hill High School as what her year book inscriptions described as "the most talkative" member of the Class of 1961. Kay was a proud member of the RHHS Bearcats marching band, playing the flute and often joking that for four years she looked at the rear-ends of majorette friends Carolyn Smyers and Linda Polk. She was a member of the spinsters girls social club.

Kay was a "fairest flower" attending Winthrop College and receiving a degree in education in 1965. She then taught school in Jacksonville, Fla. for two years where she met her first husband, naval aviator Charles "Chuck" Simon. They moved to Minnesota where they had and raised their sons.

Kay was active in Republican politics in Minnesota before, as she put it, "seeing the light," and becoming a passionate Democrat. When her husband, Keith, retired in 2003, she realized her dream of moving to Pawleys Island where she had enjoyed many happy summers growing up.

She loved beach music and dancing the shag - something she learned as a teenager practicing by dancing holding on to a door knob with a beer can on her head. Kay was an avid reader and golfer, enjoying playing with friends and watching on TV.

Her favorite time of year was spring when the azaleas bloomed and a parade of birds enjoyed her feeders and bird bath. She was very much involved in efforts to preserve and exhibit her father's legacy and artwork notably visible in the "christmasville" and come-see me festivals in Rock Hlll.

Kay was strong-willed and direct; a "character" of great character. Her version of when things that needed to be done around the house should be done was "right now." She made and maintained close friendships and enjoyed gatherings filled with laughter and libation. Being a friend of Kay's was being a friend for life. Most of all, Kay was a loving wife, mother and grandmother; proud of her sons and their success and the energy and exploits of her grandchildren. She died as she lived; no sadness, no regrets and looking forward to continuing the long day's journey into light.

There will be no formal services. Informal gatherings of family and friends were her wish. In lieu of flowers, for those so inclined, memorial contributions can be made to the All 4Paws Animal Rescue of Pawleys Island, the Smith Clinic in Pawleys Island or the Cultural and Heritage Museums of York County (Rock Hill) where the collection of her father's artwork is preserved and displayed.