Kay Nace

Kay was born on Sept. 22, 1948, in Wilkes-Barre, to the late Robert G. "Buss" Keefer, of Dallas, and the late Enid M. Keefer (née Griffith), who was born and raised near Melbourne, Australia, where her family had migrated in the 1850s. Buss and Enid met during World War II, eventually marrying and having three children, of whom Kay was the middle child. Her siblings were two brothers whom she would later come to miss very much: the late Colin R. Keefer, four years her senior, and David Keefer, seven years her junior.

She is survived most immediately by Lynn W. Nace, her husband of 48 years; her son, Dr. Nicholas D. Nace, and his wife, Dr. Chelsie A. Malyszek, of Farmville, Va.; and her stepson, Brett A. Nace, of Columbus, Ohio.

Kay's childhood years were spent in Forty Fort and her teen years in the Harveys Lake area, where she had many overlapping friend groups, including one she referred to as the "Woofers." She graduated from Lake Lehman High School in 1966, after which she took several jobs in Wilkes-Barre. Soon after, she moved to Camp Hill, Pa., and began work as a keypunch operator for the state government in Harrisburg, performing data entry at record speeds within the office that was, mostly because of Kay, the fastest nationally. In the mid-1970s, she took a job keypunching at Roadway Express, where she met her future husband, Lynn.

Lynn and Kay were married in 1978, after which they moved to Akron, Ohio, where they raised Nicholas and Brett as well as several beloved cats. During the 1980s, Kay managed the family real estate business, performing all duties from maintenance to rent collecting at three different properties. Taking a motherly interest in her son's activities, Kay began to train in martial arts along with Nicholas during the 1980s, achieving several belts in Taekwondo. She took part in many local beautification projects, including the planning, planting, and maintenance of eight of the city's public flower gardens. In the 1990s, she changed careers in order to follow her lifelong passion and become an interior design consultant.

In 2003, Lynn and Kay retired and moved back home to the Wilkes-Barre area, in part to help her father in his later years and to be closer to the nature she loved. Soon, Kay began to plan, design, and oversee the construction of her dream house on the banks of Bowman's Creek in Monroe Township. Once built and meticulously decorated, the house was a hub of activity in which Kay spent time entertaining friends and family, frequently making her widely renowned cheesecake and hosting events for local animal groups. During this time, she became a member of the Tunkhannock chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, where she eventually took leadership roles and developed several philanthropic and humanitarian initiatives, including the writing of a cookbook published in 2010 and an ongoing project to make and distribute wheelchair accessories for the residents of local nursing homes.

In February of 2020, Kay was diagnosed with dementia, a disease she quietly and stoically withstood until finally succumbing on the morning of Nov. 19.

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Hugh B. Hughes & Son Inc. Funeral Home, Forty Fort.

For information or to send the family a condolence, visit www.hughbhughes.com.