A. Kay Dillon

Remembering Kay Dillon friend, librarian and researcher
Sharing sad news is not the way we hoped to start a new year but on January 2, 2026 our good friend and SOKY teammate Kay Dillon finally lost her battle with numerous health issues.
Kay was born in Lewisburg, Kentucky on December 22, 1943 to Roy Albert and Carrie Wilson Dillon. She grew up on the family farm and attended Lewisburg Elementary School and Lewisburg High School.
In 1961 Kay arrived at Western Kentucky University where she would obtain a BA in Library Science and French followed by a Masters Degree and a Rank I. During college she worked at Pearson's Drug Store and later got her first taste of being a librarian working in the then Western Kentucky State College Library.
She began her career after graduation from WKU in 1965 as an assistant librarian in the Bowling Green City School System working at Bowling Green High School and 11th Street Elementary a job she filled until 1969 when she moved to the Warren County School System to be the librarian at Rockfield Elementary School.
In 1970 Kay became the librarian at Cumberland Trace Elementary School where she would remain for 24 years. until retirement in 1994. Kay always loved running into Cumberland Trace students when she was out and about. Of course, they all remembered Miss Kay who loved meeting and working with all the students who passed through her library.
In an article that ran in the Bowling Green Daily News in October, 2016 celebrating Kay's 50th anniversary of library service, they quoted Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby who shared that Kay was his librarian when he was a student at Eleventh Street Elementary School.
Kevin said, "She was always nice to me. The school had a small, one-room library and we were a rambunctious group of kids. She was great to all us kids at Eleventh Street. She became friends with a lot of students throughout the years and has been a good friend to me all my life."
Twila and I met Kay and her best friend of 60+ years, Mary Alice Oliver, when we all realized we were regulars at the same local restaurant. One thing led to another and before we knew it, we were eating together once a week and often playing trivia before the meal thanks to a patient restaurant staff.
Along the way we learned that Mary Alice and Kay were local history buffs and Mary Alice enjoyed writing, and she and Kay learned we own SOKY Happenings Magazine. Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what came next Mary Alice began writing a monthly article for SOKY appropriately titled "Remembering," featuring some interesting part of area history in each issue. Kay and Mary Alice would spend hours at the Warren County Public Library or WKU's Kentucky Museum researching for an article. In later years, as Mary Alice's health got worse, Kay became her dependable chauffeur. There could never have been a better and more trusted friend than Kay. After their research, Mary Alice would write an article and Kay, a retired school librarian and part-time Warren County Public Library staff member, would do the proofing. Needless to say, the SOKY team never had to do much editing to their work.
As you can see in this article, the two best friends were seldom apart. As mentioned, Mary Alice's health was declining as she approached 90 and continued to battle her own set of health issues, and as much as Kay loved her work at the library, she retired a second time so she could dedicate more energy and time to being with, assisting and caring for her good friend.
One of my favorite stories came from Kay meeting a young friend of ours from out West. She was a professional model at the time and was traveling to an assignment and stopped for a few days to visit with us and, of course, Kay and Mary Alice wanted to meet her. So, we all met for dinner one evening and, of course, Kay was quizzing our friend on her job as a model. The young lady turned the tables on Kay and asked, "Kay, what do you do for work?" Kay told her she was a librarian. With a straight face our friend said, "Librarian? Do they still have those?" Ten minutes later Kay was still sharing in-depth what a library has become and how important a librarian is. Every time we've seen our friend since then she always says, "Well, if I have learned nothing else hanging around with you guys, I sure know what a Librarian is now!"
Kay was proud of her years of service as a librarian, her years of loyal friendship to Mary Alice and the fact we trusted them with our home and our pets. When we traveled, we would always entrust our home and our cat to them for care. It was not unusual to come home and find that Chrissy the Cat had acquired a new toy or two, as they would come visit her once or twice a day to be sure she didn't get too lonely.
Kay was preceded in death by her father, Roy Albert Dillon and mother, Carrie Wilson Dillon; two brothers, Myron Lydell Dillon and Roy Wilson Dillon, and her long-time best friend, Mary Alice Oliver.
I've been a writer most of my life for nearly 60 years and I remember learning to write obits under Jim Highland in journalism class at WKU but truly hoped I would never have to write one much less two in one year for dear friends. Kay was a true asset to us at SOKY Happenings even insisting on helping deliver the magazines every month and any words I try to come up with to adequately describe the love, friendship and fun she provided for those around her would not be sufficient to the task. As I said when honoring Mary Alice back in March, it is a cliché to say, but she will be terribly missed but never forgotten. God bless you, my friend!
-by Tim Hurst
SOKY Publisher & Co-Owner
Visitation will be Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 10am at J.C. Kirby & Son Funeral Chapel on Lovers Lane in Bowling Green with the funeral service following at 11am.
Burial will be held in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Lewisburg, Kentucky.