Kay Thomson Calvert

Kay Thomson Calvert of Emporia, Kansas, passed away peacefully at the University of Kansas Medical Center following a brief illness. She was 77.

Services will be held on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. at Heath Recital Hall in Beach Music Hall on the Emporia State University campus.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests instead, contributions to The League of Women Voters Endowment Fund or Camp Alexander, which may be sent in care of the funeral home.

Kay was born November 12, 1936 in Maryville, Missouri, to William B. and Marian New Thomson.  She was the eldest of six children.  The family moved to various houses in or near the Kansas City area, finally settling in Raytown, where Kay graduated from Raytown High School.  She attended college at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma for a year before transferring to Central Missouri State University.

After graduating from Central Missouri State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, Kay began her teaching career in Topeka, where she met her husband Jim.  She taught for a time in Manhattan and nearby Keats while putting him through graduate school. After a few years, following the birth of her second child, she returned to the classroom in Emporia, teaching fifth grade at Mary Herbert Elementary School.

While teaching, she earned her Master’s Degree in School Administration from Emporia State University.  She was actively involved in the NEA, working on the negotiating committee several times. She ended her career at Lowther South in 1996, after the consolidation of the fifth grades.  Her work earned her the Liberty Bell Award from the Lyon County Bar Association.

As a longtime resident of Emporia, Kay contributed her talents and time to various organizations that benefited the citizens of Emporia.  She served with the League of Women Voters in a variety of capacities, including multiple terms as president.  She worked on many programs with the League, helping create The League of Women Voters of Kansas Endowment Fund.

Kay was a founding member and longtime supporter of the Emporia Arts Council. During her association with the EAC, she was responsible for hosting many performers who came to Emporia. She could be a tenacious fundraiser, unafraid to talk to the most senior executives of Emporia’s business community.

Kay and Jim were active sailors and sailboat racers for over forty years. They joined Perry Yacht Club in the first year of its existence when it was little more than a gravel parking lot, two Johnny-on-the-jobs, and a state of mind. Kay served for several years as social chairperson. She was known as Princess White Nose for her habit of wearing zinc oxide all summer long.

Retirement brought Kay the chance to combine her passion for environmental issues with her love of education when she joined the board for Camp Alexander, eventually serving as its president. After a staffing crisis, she assumed the responsibilities of Camp Director for over a year.

Travel and music were two activities Kay enjoyed with her husband.  Her children were participants in the Suzuki Violin program at Emporia State. She and Jim were regular patrons of the Kansas City Symphony, Kansas City Ballet, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and attended nearly all of the music performances at Emporia State University for many years.  They also enjoyed traveling to annual festivals such as OK Mozart and the Central Illinois Jazz Festival.

Kay is survived by her husband, James West Calvert; her two children, James Wm. Calvert and his wife Barbara of Lawson, Missouri, and Anne Calvert Bettis and her husband Carl Bettis of Kansas City, Missouri; four grandchildren, Erinn Calvert of Stillwater, New York, Adam Calvert of Emporia, Brandi Calvert of Gladstone, Missouri, and Saffie Bettis of Kansas City, Missouri; and one great-grandchild, Elana Calvert of Stillwater, New York; four brothers, Dick Thomson and his wife Kay of Maryville, Missouri, Joe Thomson and his wife Jolene, and Don Thomson, all of Springfield, Missouri, and Chris Thomson of Tacoma, Washington; and one sister, Mary Jane Snowdall and her husband John of Griffin, Georgia.