Kay Hanson

Kay Wild Hanson

Vero Beach - Kay Wild Hanson passed away peacefully Sunday morning, January 31st, in Vero Beach. She was 90 years old. Born to parents, Art and Sunny Rezzonico, in Oak Hill, West Virginia, Kay grew up in Charleston and was a proud West Virginian.

She attended Duke University where she met her first husband, Glenn Wild, and graduated with a degree in Physical Education. She was an avid tennis player and enjoyed her golf.

Her love of traveling began as a young mother when she would plan summer trips, kids in tow, to various destinations including a cross-country camping trip out West and back. Her most ambitious journey came in 1968. With her husband, three kids, and the pocket travel guide Europe on $5 a Day, Kay managed an around-the-world trip that began in Portugal and ended, two months and ten countries later, in Japan.

She moved to Vero Beach in 1969 where she raised her children. In Vero, she first worked as a teacher and then a realtor. Upon retirement, she continued to travel with her second husband, Fred Hanson, to such far-flung destinations as the Amazon, Africa, China, Australia, Peru, and Alaska to name just a few.

Known as Mama Kay to her eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, she loved nothing more than being surrounded by family. She is survived by her sister, Ann Martin of Vero Beach, by her children, the Hon. Joe Wild, and wife, Glenda, of Vero Beach, Steven Wild of Sebastian, and Jodi Manning, and husband, Al, of Deland, Florida.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in her name to VNA & Hospice Foundation of Vero Beach, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960, would be greatly appreciated.