Kay McKinney

Kay McKinney was never one to settle down. Even in her later years, when people tried to make her retire, she had a passion for making a difference in people’s lives. Her fearless and independent spirit allowed her to enjoy her life and make an unforgettable impression on every person she met.

Kay was born at the beginning of the twentieth century, a time when America was in great transition. Moving assembly lines revolutionized production, while women, children, and minorities struggled to make their voices heard. Children, especially, had difficult lives, often working long hours in unsafe conditions. Despite the troubles the country faced, it was still the land of opportunity. People from all over the world moved to the United States in search of better lives, including Kay’s parents.

Joris Joseph and Barbara Maria (Vanderhelm) Maat left their business and families in the Netherlands for a ranch in Montana. They bought a dairy herd in Red Lodge, although they soon learned the herd had TB and had to be detroyed. They did not let this fact dampen their spirits. Their eleven children were ready to help the family make ends meet, many working in the coal mines at very young ages.

Kay was the oldest girl, born a short time after the family arrived form the Netherlands. She was the seventh child born to Joris and Barbara. (It was said the seventh son would have been a genius.) She especially enjoyed the company of her brother, Tony (Fr. William) only sixteen months older. She would name the fence posts and they would ride the family horse. The walks she took were a memorable part of her childhood as she had a true love for nature and the mountains.

Kay’s family soon left the wilderness of Montana, uprooting their lives once again. Kay’s brother had met a young teacher, Agnes Cagney, and they were married. They all followed them to her home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan, finding work in the dairy at Nazareth. Kay attended high school at Mount St. Scholastica in Kansas. Later, Kay returned to Michigan to begin college and worked at the telephone company to help her family. Her brother was in the seminary and her sisters were getting married.

The church was an important place for the Maat family, and it was through the CYA that Kay met Charles McKinney, she in her 30's and he in his 40's. They married in Washington, D.C. where her brother Fr. William was studying for his PhD. Back in Kalamazoo, Charles, a pharmacist, owned McKinney Brothers Pharmacy, near the State Theatre. John and his sister Joan were born within a year-and-a-half of each other. Unfortunately, Charles McKinney was not able to watch his children grow. He suffered from nephritis and passed away when Joan was just 5 months old.

Kay purchased a larger home and had her parents move in with her. It was not easy. She owned a secondhand shop for a short time, later working for many years at Orin B. Hayes car dealership, and then Nazareth College in the Admissions Office. She often held other jobs at night to make ends meet.She was the provider not only for her children, but her parents until their deaths in the 60's. Despite the hardships, Kay always took the family "up north" for vacations in the summer and she always enjoyed her bridge club with her girlfriends and the Kalamazoo Community Concerts.

When John and Joan were in junior high school, Kay went back to school to finish her degree that was started years earlier. She received her undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Nazareth College in 1965 and continued on at Western Michigan University to receive a Masters in Library Science in 1967. Her first job was in the library at the University of Notre Dame. After three years she moved to Portland, Oregon to work for the Able Book Company, one of the largest publishers of college text books at the time. When computers replaced her job, she found work at a friend's filbert ranch and another friend's holly farm until she was hired at the Tacoma Public Library. She loved the library work and was disappointed when their retirement age was 65.

Kay was not ready to retire and was then employed in the library at the University of Puget Sound. However, their retirement age turned out to be 70, but Kay was still not ready to stop working and relocated to the Billings Public Library, not far from where she was born. While living there she had many opportunities to visit the family ranch where she had lived as a child. She helped write a book on the History of Red Lodge and this time was not asked to retire. Six years later however, Kay chose to leave. She wanted to be close to her new grandson.

While living in the Pacific Northwest and Billings, Kay could always be found on the weekends pursuing a new hike, backpacking or climbing a mountain. Her younger brother, George lived in Sequim and she loved the hikes on the Olympic Peninsula. She climbed Mount Hood at the age of 65. She also loved travel, traveling several times to Europe, visiting her son in Sierra Leon while he was in the Peace Corps, riding a camel in Egypt and twice to the Holy Land. Later she would also travel to Alaska and Hawaii. She also cross country skied, taught yoga and studied holistic health.

When Kay moved back to Kalamazoo, she and her grandson, Brendan, developed an incredible bond. They were inseparable. They went everywhere together including daily mass. Their relationship was strong despite their age difference because they both has open minds and hearts.

One of the hardest times for Kay came when her son John died in 1989. With his passing much of her spirit went with him.

Kay McKinney was an independent woman, but she also appreciated the people in her life. They all helped to make her the person she was, and her incredible spirit will be alive in their hearts forever.

Kay M. McKinney, Age 96 of Kalamazoo, died May 26, 2004 at Borgess Hospital. She was preceded in death by her son, John Charles McKinney; eight brothers: Adrian, Adrian, Leo, Arie, George, Ted and Dick Maat; and a sister, Audrey Maher. She is survived by her daughter, Joni (John) Weaver of Kalamazoo; a sister, Mary Kolojeski of N. Palm Beach, FL; a brother, Fr. William Maat, OSB of St. Martin’s Abbey, WA; and a much loved grandson, Brendan Joseph McKinney Weaver and several nieces and nephews. Cremation has taken place. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 26th at St. Thomas More Catholic Church with Fr. John Grathwohl officiating. Interment will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Kalamazoo. Please visit Kay’s personal web page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you can read her life story, share a memory, or make a memorial contribution to the Sierra Club, Kalamazoo Nature Center or the American Cancer Society.