Mayfield School District Names Room in Honor of Irene Kay

Irene Kay will be forever part of the .

On Wednesday, the Board of Education meeting room was named in honor of Kay, a school board member for 27 years, from 1965 to 1991. She was especially proud of helping to establish the Millridge Center for the Hearing Impaired and in 1992 was the first person to be named Mayfield board member emeritus.

Kay, who died in January at age 90, and her late husband Al were active in many community organizations, including the Friends of the Mayfield Regional Library and Mayfield Area Recreation Council.

Superintendent Phillip Price said he heard from Irene Kay soon after being hired in Mayfield 14 years ago.

"The first person to call was Irene Kay and said we need to go to lunch," Price said. "She was always so kind, so generous and I just loved her smile."

Former Superintendent Robert Stabile came to the dedication ceremony.

"Irene was on the board that hired me and she was still here 20 years later," Stabile said. "She was a wonderful person and I loved her dearly."

Kay's children – Stephen Kay, Leslie Andrzejewski and Adrienne Gallagher – helped place a plaque honoring Irene Kay on the meeting room wall.

"It's very exciting to have her name here forever. What could be better than that?" Stephen Kay said.

"I'm just thrilled that there will be something permanent to commemorate her incredible dedication to Mayfield schools and her community," Gallagher said.

Irene and Al Kay, a longtime Mayfield Heights councilman, helped establish the Mayfield Regional Library and helped create the Mayfield Area Recreation Council. Irene was a longtime trustee of the Friends of Mayfield Library and served as MARC president, treasurer and publicity chairman.

In 1995, the Kays were named Citizens of the Year by the Mayfield schools. In 1996, they were recognized for outstanding community service by the Citizens League of Greater Cleveland, which selected 100 community servants of the previous 100 years in honor of its 100th anniversary.