Kathryn "Kay" Dreher

Mystic - Kathryn "Kay" Rice Dreher of Avalon Health Center of the StoneRidge Retirement Community in Mystic, passed peacefully in the night lit by the beautiful full moon May 27, 2021. Born in rural Georgia, she was the daughter of the late John Major Rice and Katie Mae Huff Rice.

Kay was incredibly athletic, had an extremely bright intellect, demonstrated great love to her friends, flashed a brilliant smile, and felt ongoing dedication to progressive Christianity. Having been the valedictorian of her high school class, she attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College for two years and then graduated with honors from the University of Georgia. Kay was an active member of the Student Christian Union and was on one of the earliest Bulldog cheerleading squad after UGA went co-ed. She earned a pilot license by being one of the relatively few women enrolling in the Civilian Pilot Training Program sponsored by the U.S. government in the years immediately preceding World War II, and subsidized some of her university education by stunt flying on weekends at county fairs. She then went to Oregon State University and won a Fulbright Scholarship and went on to Union Theological Seminary in New York City, during the time Paul Tillich was teaching there. Kay paid her way through seminary as a nanny for the children of renowned theologians, Rheinhold and Ursula Niebuhr.

Kay met her late husband, the Reverend George Kelsey Dreher, on a blind date attending the Yale-Harvard football game, when George was attending Yale Divinity School. They married in 1947. They set up homes and churches together in Idaho, Utah, California, Kansas and finally settled in Mystic, in 1964 to serve the Mystic Congregational Church. Throughout her adult life, Kay continued to be a pioneer of racial and gender equity, was a peace activist, an advocate for ecology and environmental protection, and a dedicated champion of global ministry. Kay became a member of PEO, a philanthropic education organization providing opportunities for women in the early '50s in Utah, and continued joining chapters as the family moved to each state.

Kay was an active member of the Mystic Congregational Church, took the pulpit as a guest preacher on occasion, and participated in the church Women's Fellowship and various state-level United Church of Christ committees. She also performed Chaplain duties and taught religious education at York Correctional Institute for women. She volunteered for numerous causes and charitable events, supported the local Mystic food co-op, and avidly read the Daily Devotions, The New Yorker, as well as The Christian Science Monitor and The Progressive magazines.

Together Kay and George raised six children and Kay lived to enjoy 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. While finishing raising their kids, she worked for 20 years at the Mary Morrison Elementary School in Groton, teaching kindergarten and then as a remedial reading teacher. Kay was an active member of both the Connecticut and National Education Associations.

Kay licked cancer three different times during her life and, at 99, survived the COVID-19 virus, thanks in large part to the many wonderful caregivers at Avalon who supported her and ensured a quality of life that defied the limitations of her health condition at the end of her very vital life.

Kay's six children survive her: Brenda Dreher Worth (Ralph Worth), George Rice Dreher, Timothy James Dreher (Deborah Victoria Dreher), Elizabeth Dreher Webb (Robert Webb), Marty Kelsey Dreher and Andrew Kenan Dreher.

A service in celebration of her life will be held at 1 p.m. June 9, at the Mystic Congregational Church. Please note that seating in the church is limited and registration is required. Anyone desiring to attend in person must register with the Mystic Congregational Church by calling the Church Office at 860.536.4259. The Memorial Service will be live-streamed and can be attended by the public through this link: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxuxM2pZ7cmHjLHhFlAutSw .

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to join them in supporting a cause dear to Kay by contributing to: United Church of Christ, Financial Services, 700 Prospect Avenue, 6th Floor, Cleveland, OH 44115 (Designate Justice & Witness Ministries on memo of the check) or telephone 800.846.6822 or online via https://www.ucc.org/giving/donate-now/general-donation/ or donate to the Mystic Congregational Church. The final arrangements for Kay are being performed by Dinoto Funeral Home in Mystic, and reflections on her life compiled by Marty Dreher from contributions from Kay's family can be found on Dinoto's website through this link: www.dinotofuneral.com.