Cecelia J. Kay died August 28, 2023 at home surrounded by her family. Born September 22, 1928, daughter of Herbert W. and Cecelia Ford Small, she and her twin, Ann E. Finn, were the first babies in the nursery at Fairview Hospital. “Cece” was one of five children raised at the family home on Salisbury Road in Sheffield. She graduated from the Sheffield High School in 1946, where she played on the girls’ basketball team. She earned her nursing degree from the St. Francis DeSales School of Nursing in Hartford Connecticut, graduating in the class of 1949.
Mrs. Kay married her husband, Joseph M. Kay of Great Barrington, on May 12, 1951 at Our Lady of the Valley Church in Sheffield. She worked as a Registered Nurse, Supervisor, and Director of Nursing for many years at Fairview Hospital, The Pines (now Timberlyn Heights), and Willowood (now Fairview Commons) nursing homes in Great Barrington and retired from Fairview Hospital in the early 1990s. She enjoyed caring for the patients, especially the elderly, and took pride in educating and training staff.
Mrs. Kay’s hobbies included cooking, gardening, knitting, reading, swimming at the Kilpatrick Athletic Center, and spending time with family and friends. She was a communicant of St. Peter Church, where she served for many years as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.
Mrs. Kay is pre-deceased by her brother 1 Lt. Herbert W. Small USAAF, who was killed in action on April 27, 1944 over Nazi-occupied France; her brother James G. Small of Sheffield, who died September 12, 2004; her sister Ann E. Finn of Westford, Mass., who died November 6, 2004; and her two sons, Herbert W. Kay, who died at age 14 as the result of a an automobile accident in Sheffield on June 8, 1974, and Joseph M.(Patricia) Kay Jr., who died December 31, 2021 at his home in Framingham, Mass.
Besides her husband, Mrs. Kay is survived by her sister, Mary Ustico of Canaan, Conn; two daughters, Elizabeth J. (Lee) Buck of Prescott, Ariz. and Mary C. Clark of Great Barrington; a son, Stanley J. (Rebecca) Kay of Housatonic; nine grandchildren, William (Nicole), Andrew (Miriam) and Joan Buck, Ashleigh and Kaitlyn Kay, Aleksander, Gregory, and Peter and Serenity Kay; three great-grandchildren, Luciana, Emilia, and Ava Buck; and several nieces and nephews.
Calling hours will be Sunday, September 3, from 2 to 4 p.m., and on Monday, September 4, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., at the Birches-Roy funeral home, which is in charge of arrangements. The funeral Mass will be at St. Peter Church, celebrated by Rev. William P. Murphy Pastor, on Monday, September 4, at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at St. Peter Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to the St. Peter building restoration fund in care of the funeral home. The family extends its heartfelt thanks to the kind, caring professionals and volunteers of Hospice of Western and Central Massachusetts, Centerwell Home Healthcare, and SVNA Home Assistance. Condolences may be made through the funeral home’s website.
