Kay Shaw Hall, a resident of Hendersonville for nearly 30 years, passed away peacefully at home on September 14, 2020, following a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer.
Kay was born in Greenville, SC, to the late George and Sue Shaw, who would also become Hendersonville residents for many years later in life. She grew up in Tampa, FL, where George and Sue relocated soon after Kay was born. An only child, Kay grew up not only close to her parents but also to both sets of grandparents: her mother’s parents in Macon, Georgia, and her father’s parents in Lancaster, England. Childhood visits to the latter inspired a lifelong love of the English countryside, literature, and culture.
A skilled adult education instructor, Kay earned her Bachelors of Science in Education from Florida State University and soon joined the faculty for the continuing education programs in the University of Florida’s Cooperative Extension Service. She also taught students at St. Petersburg Junior College and Hillsborough Community College, before switching her focus to the field of gerontology. Kay earned her Master’s degree in Gerontology from the University of South Florida, gaining five years of practical counseling experience with Hospice care before relocating with her family to the Brevard area. Once in North Carolina, Kay used her expertise to become a consultant for geriatric care and community health organizations. Eventually she would become a certified grief counselor and created Mountain Loss and Bereavement Center, a private practice through which she partnered with local churches, community centers, funeral homes, and medical centers to lead group therapy sessions for families and individuals working through grief.
In her free hours, Kay liked to spend her time creating. She loved to paint, to sew clothes and quilt, to craft, to decorate, and above all to cook and enjoy gourmet food. She had a keen appreciation for the performing arts – film, music, dance, and especially live theatre – and was singlehandedly responsible for getting her daughter, Kristin, addicted to musical theatre showtunes by the age of four. Kay was full of life, sage wisdom, and loud laughter.
A two-time previous cancer survivor, Kay played an active role with Pardee Hospital’s Women Helping Women organization for many years. She also was highly involved with multiple women-led Unitarian Universalist groups throughout the Hendersonville, Asheville, and Brevard region. Above all, she will be remembered as a fiercely devoted daughter, mother, wife, and friend.
She is survived by her husband, James William Hall, of Hendersonville, and daughter Kristin Elizabeth Hall, a former Hendersonville resident now living in San Jose, CA. Jim and Kristin said a private goodbye before Kay was cremated at Jackson Funeral Home in Hendersonville. In accordance with Kay’s wishes, her ashes will be scattered at a later date in the Lune Valley of the English Lake District, alongside her parents’ ashes. Because of public health concerns related to COVID-19, the family has decided to postpone an in-person celebration of life gathering until 2021. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that mourners please make a donation to the Blue Ridge Humane Society in memory of Kay.