Retired, respected SUN employee and Yucaipa resident dies
Wesley G. Hughes, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/30/2009 07:37:59 PM PDT
YUCAIPA - The mighty presses that roar to life each day and turn blank rolls of newsprint into newspapers are called the iron in the industry.
"And Don Kay was known as the man who knew the iron," Sun Publisher Fred Hamilton said Thursday about the retired vice president of operations who died suddenly that morning.
Describing the day, Hamilton said, "It was really tough giving everyone the news this morning. He was really, really well liked.
"Once you met Don, you felt you'd known him your whole life," Hamilton said, adding that although Kay had worked for him only six months before he retired, he had known him for years and Kay was an industry symbol.
Kay was 62 and retired from The Sun on Dec. 14, 2007. His wife, Nancy, Hamilton's administrative assistant, said the cause of death was pending an autopsy but that it was probably a massive heart attack. He had not been ill she said, except "he had flu-like symptoms for a week or so and Wednesday night had trouble breathing.
Kathy Johnson, The Sun's vice president of finance, lived not far from the Kays in Yucaipa. She remembered calling Kay in the past at 5 a.m. after hearing something in the attic. "I told him I wasn't going back in the house unless he came and checked. He came."
"I absolutely loved that guy," said Steve Lambert, who was editor of The Sun during much of Kay's tenure at the newspaper. "He was a gentleman, just a total gentleman," Lambert said. He was absolutely committed to helping people, both inside the organization and outside."
Lambert said he worked with Kay in Wilmington, Del. "Don helped build that building there," he said. "He was phenomenal."
Bob Balzer, publisher before Hamilton, said, "I worked with Don since '92. I have never met a man with more honor and decency. Secondary to that, he was an outstanding production manager.
"My heart goes out to the family, especially Nancy, whom I have also worked with since '92," said Balzer. "The area has lost a perfect gentleman and I have lost a friend."
Executive Editor Frank Pine said, "Don Kay was ever the pro, a gentleman and a friend. He'll be missed. One of the best in the industry, he was a great collaborator with other departments," Pine said. "He was warm and congenial, very classy."
Don Kay had been a newspaperman for nearly half a century, said his wife Nancy. "He started as a paperboy and never left."
Services are pending.
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I worked with Don at both the San Bernardino Sun and The Desert Sun in Palm Springs. I have never known a more friendly, easy-to-get-along-with guy. In Palm Springs, I was editor of the paper's monthly lifestyle magazine, and Don helped me through some new and challenging production situations. And even though I became a pest, he never lost his patience with me.
The Sun and the industry have lost a friend.
Many other people will talk about Don's abilities, and they were formidable. While at the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Don was the go-to guy for ANYTHING related to the presses.
But for me Don was a kind, humble, quiet gentleman. Professionally and personally.
In 1985 I was planning on a vacation to Florida when the family car broke down and I was telling Don how I was going to have to reschedule my vacation.
Later that evening, unannounced, he showed up at my house with his mini-van, and with a grin told me to return it with a full tank of gas. We put over 3,000 miles on his van and all he wanted to know when we got back was if it gave me any trouble. He wouldn't take a dime.
I knew Don for over 25 years and although we hadn't seen each other in years, when we had a chance to spend some time together in Wilkes-Barre in 2006,
it was if we had seen each other just last weekend.
Damn, I'm going to miss him.