Kay Adair Hover
Kay Adair Hover spent only 55 short years on this earth but her life touched hundred of people. Originally born in Oklahoma City in 1946 she considered Tucson her home. She loved the desert sunset and we remember her beauty fiery wit and infectious laugh with each sundown. Kay Adair Hover was not a formally educated woman. She did not amass great wealth in her lifetime. She chaired no boards or commissions with which to leave her name as a legacy. She was not the recipient of major awards or honors. Lending the strength of her back to help those she cared about succeed she would often sit with quiet pride and relish their recognition. She felt fortunate to be part of their successes. She demanded no reward for her efforts and asked no pity when her own life was riddled with illness and pain. She gave us hope in times of hopelessness and refused to let us give up on her even when she knew the battle to save her life was lost. Some would say that her life was not full; that she lacked the formal accomplishments we often read on an epitaph that signify a life well lived. They would be wrong. Kay was my mother. She died of lymphoma in September 2001. I remember her as a funny woman a clumsy little soul who had the ability to light up a room with her smile and the glint of mischievousness in her eyes. She taught me that sacrifice in the name of live is a gift never to be taken for granted. Her life and legacy are not etched in granite or a plaque on some wall but it lives in the hearts and memories of all that were blessed to know her.