Carey (Kay) Kott Curtis

Carey Kott Curtis, known to all as Kay, was born February 26, 1939, in Memphis, Tennessee.

She passed from this world on June 25, 2024, at her home in Homer, Alaska.

Kay lived an unconventional life, and was known for her nomadic spirit, her love of art and literature and her kindness to her fellow creatures.

Her father, Clarence Kott, who the family called "Fah," was a minister and administrator for the Seventh-day Adventist church, in the Pacific Union Conference. Her mother, Mary Gartly Kott, who the family called "Muz," was a business manager.

Kay led an athletic lifestyle from start to finish. She rode horses as a young girl in Idaho, learned to ski during high school years in California, taught swimming and worked as a lifeguard. She was bike touring and backpacking before it was trendy. She was keenly aware of body mechanics and the physiology of movement. Even at the end of her life, she was still joining yoga classes on Zoom and going through the movements in her mind's eye.

She graduated from Glendale Adventist Academy, and went on to study physical education at Walla Walla College. There she met an engineering student, Gary Curtis, and they married in 1959 shortly after he graduated.

Kay and Gary had two children, Margo and Gartly, and raised them, literally, on the beach in Southern California. They also spent a number of summers on a lake in northwestern Washington. She and Gary regularly took them skiing, backpacking and sailing. Kay pulled her kids out of junior high school for a month to go trekking in Nepal.

She worked as a housewife until the early 1980s, when she and Gary divorced. She became a tour director, leading everything from cruise ship excursions in Alaska to small group trips in China. She taught skiing for a few seasons in Austria. Later in life, she was the activities director for a large retirement center in Loma Linda, Calif.

A voracious traveler, she visited more than 100 countries around the world. For years, she made a seasonal home in Guanajuato, Mexico. She became a fixture of life in that community, being known as the glue that brought all cultures together for dinner under her roof. There, she volunteered with Brillantes Caminantes, an organization dear to her heart, which funds scholarships for local students. Contributions can be made in her honor at donorbox.org/brillantes-caminantes-a-c. More recently, she was also a supporter of and volunteer at the Pratt Museum in Homer and the San Diego Opera.

Since she traveled and moved around so much, volunteering was one way she would connect with a community. Whether it was reading, writing, music, history, nature or art, all her interests trended toward culture. Many of her trips were about understanding local cultures, such as exploring fabrics in Butan or mythology in Greece.

On Kay's passing, here's how some of her friends remember her:

"One of the sweetest and most giving volunteers I've ever worked with..."

"I shared many wonderful moments with Kay... she was my friend and quite an inspiration in my life. I treasured her humor and wit... we laughed until we cried!"

"Kay was so welcoming and fun to be with. She was probably on everybody's 'fave' list! I have many fond memories of our visits when I lived in glorious Guanajuato. She will be missed!"

"An inspiration for my unconventional nomad's life."

"One of the kindest people I've known."

"Every once in a while you meet someone for a brief moment and you know they're a kindred spirit. That's how I felt about Kay.... Such special connections with a wonderful lady."

"I remember Kay with great affection and respect. She knew so much about so many things that I once joked she was "WiKAYpedia". That infectious smile is what I will most remember... She would say, 'What you experience here on this one morning will be with you the whole week long.' Vuela alto, querida Kay. Much light and love to you on this new travel adventure."

Her daughter Margo, says, "Her parenting approach taught me to be independent, to embrace stepping out of my comfort zone, and to be curious about so much in the world... art, culture, nature, people."

Kay was also intrigued with photography. She enjoyed cooking and had a huge cookbook collection. She loved to experiment with flavors and could spend hours in the grocery store seeking out unusual ingredients.

She read everything: fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, self-help, history, politics. She would have been hard-pressed to pick a favorite. The list in her Kindle feed was full and broad and she had little slips of notepaper all over her apartment with book titles she wanted to find. Toward the end, one of her regrets was that there was still so much to read.

Kay used journaling as one way of exploring the meaning of life. She wrote almost daily. She had a years-long writers group that she participated with weekly. Even though she had seen so much of the world, and learned so many things, she still felt there were more questions than answers.

For the last four years she struggled with intense neuralgia from a bout with shingles. Her constant pain was exacerbated by movement, and so car or plane vibrations were excruciating, limiting travel to very short trips. She also needed supplemental oxygen for any kind of physical exertion. It was a tough ending for someone who lived to travel and to move. She skied until she was 78.

She is survived by her children Gartly Curtis and Margo Reveil and her grandchildren Logan Reveil, Fae Reveil, Leland Curtis and Margo Curtis.

Kay passed away peacefully and quietly mid-morning, at home in her bed, with her son and daughter both holding her hands as she took her last breath. In her final few days, they and their spouses and all four of her grandchildren were able to visit, to share love and stories and wishes.

Even on her last day, long after her words had left, she could find humor in life, still able at moments to chuckle and smile.

To all of you who laughed and adventured with Kay, shared joys and griefs, meals and books, correspondence and poetry, catchy one-liners and photographs, thank you for making her feel loved in this world.