Conrad remembered for multiple community roles
Kay Conrad 1936-2010
Longtime Rotarian, Kay Conrad passed 14 April.
To those who knew her, Kay Conrad was a good friend with a “brilliant” sense of humor. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and she cared deeply for those she loved.
“She always made you feel like you were the most special kid, and you knew that you were absolutely always loved,” said her daughter, Theresa Sullivan Bolon.
But Conrad’s influence reached beyond those in her inner circle to the Ashland community, many of whom she never knew. To the families who needed support, she was a leader in the social services sector. To the sick, she was a caretaker and champion for awareness. To women, she was a strong local activist for equality.
Former United Way director and local women’s advocate Cathleen “Kay” Conrad died Wednesday at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus. She was 74.
Conrad was born in Akron and moved to Ashland in 1985, when she married a friend from her college years, Gordon Conrad. She worked as Health Reach coordinator at Samaritan Hospital for seven years, retiring in 1996 after a 40-year nursing career. Though retired, Conrad continued her work in the medical field, teaching medical billing and coding to adult education students at Ashland County West-Holmes Career Center and Pioneer Career and Technology Center in Mansfield.
Conrad, in 1991, founded Ashland County Women of Achievement, an organization dedicated to recognizing local women for their contributions to the community.
Kay Conrad became the club's first woman president in 1994. Here she's presenting a plaque to 4 Way Test Essay students from Ashland High School.
In 1994, she became the first woman to preside over the Ashland Rotary Club, where she worked to raise awareness and fight to end polio, a Rotary international effort. She was named executive director of United Way of Ashland County in 1996, where she served for 10 years. Ashland County United Way director Ev DeVaul said Conrad, as with other past directors, was a great resource for him.
“I relied a lot on her thoughts and knowledge,” DeVaul said. “She always let you know what she thought, and I think she did a lot of great things for this community and for United Way.”
Jan Archer, Rotarian and also a past United Way executive director, said Conrad, in all of her service, emphasized the importance of having a true grasp of the community’s needs.
“She really stressed understanding the community’s needs, which is really important as a United Way director,” Archer said.
Conrad’s daughter said much of her mother’s work regarding polio awareness and women’s rights stems from her own experiences and upbringing.
Growing up, she watched her father Bartholomew Crowley, a physician, treat children with polio. When the polio vaccine was first available to the public, Conrad worked “12 hours a day for days” to administer the vaccine, remembers Sullivan Bolon.
Conrad’s passion for gender equality also is linked to her past. After her first husband died in 1975, Conrad raised their five children on her own, working nights at the hospital. Somehow, she found time to stay involved with her kids, leading scouting groups and 4-H activities. She taught her daughters to sew and crochet.
“I don’t know how she did it. … We used to laugh that she had eyes in the back of her head,” Sullivan Bolon said. But Conrad didn’t excel as a single mother without adversity. When she moved to Akron from Northfield after her husband’s death, Conrad was denied a mortgage, despite her steady income and ability to pay.
“It was in her core when she realized that she was treated badly simply because she was a woman,” Sullivan Bolon said. Ashland County Board of Elections chairwoman Bonnie Manos worked closely with Conrad in Women of Achievement and United Way. She described Conrad as dedicated and meticulous when it came to work
“She worked long hard hours,” Manos said. “We were very fortunate to have someone like Kay in the community.”
While she took her work very seriously, Conrad’s smart sense of humor laced much of what she did and the relationships she built.
Martha Young, longtime friend and Samaritan co-worker, said some of her best memories with Conrad, even at the end, are of the laughs they shared.
“We had a lot of laughs,” said Young, who spent some time with Conrad in the hospital recently. “I’m so glad I made her laugh. You know, that’s my good memory. As sick as she was, I made her laugh.”
Conrad left behind a family who, Sullivan Bolon said, “will miss her desperately.” The family will play host to a celebration of Conrad’s life 1 p.m. Saturday, April 24 to share memories and reflect on her influence. Because, as Sullivan Bolon said, “everybody has a Kay Conrad story.”
“When she passed away, I looked at Gordon and we both said it’s an end of an era. It really is.”
from the Ashland Times Gazette, 17 April 2010, written by Courtney Albon calbon@times-gazette.com.
