Obituary of Malcolm Kay

Malcolm Kay, 74, of Amesbury, died peacefully Sunday, June 12, 2011 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers with his family by his side after a short illness. He was a native of Higham Ferrers, England where he was born on June 25, 1936 and was the son of the late John Phillips and Winifred (Birtwhistle) Kay. He was raised and educated in England and first worked with his father at Victoria Leather Company. He earned a degree in Chemical Engineering at Leather Sellers College in London and was first employed at the Connelly Brothers and Bevington Leather Companies in England. He later worked in Puerto Rico from 1964 until 1968. He moved to New York for three years and then worked in the Leather community on the North Shore of Massachusetts and had resided in Wenham and Rowley before moving to Amesbury 21 years ago. He had been a leather chemist at the Cromwell Leather Company of New York working out of the Peabody branch for over Fifteen years and later started the Ostri-Tan Leather Company of Amesbury and Maine. He was also a Consultant for the Leather Industry not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Argentina and many other countries. While living in England, he had been a member of the Boy Scouts and later enjoyed playing Crickett as a bowler and played on many teams. While residing in New England, he loved to go fishing and enjoyed taking many fishing trips to Moosehead Lake in Maine with a host of his pals and family. He also fished in Labrador and had designed some fish flies that were approved and patented for fly fishermen. He had been an avid reader and in his later years enjoyed doing gardening around his home. Malcolm was the husband of the late Patricia Mary Noble Cox Kay who died in 1973. He later became the husband of Geraldine “Gerri” (Bonfanti) Kay with whom he shared 37 years of marriage. He is also survived by two sons and a daughter – in – law, Andrew John and Robin Kay of Rowley and Nicholas Philip Kay of Amesbury, his grandchildren, Heather Elizabeth and her husband Michael Hebert of Dover, NH, Jonathan Charles Kay of Amesbury and James Patrick Kay of Rowley, his two great grandchildren, Kaylynn Marie and Evan Michael Hebert of Dover, NH, a brother and sister-in-law, Duncan and Marrie Kay and a sister and brother-in-law, Valerie and Rom Klegeris all of England and several nieces and nephews. A Visitation will be held on Wednesday at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home at the 82 Lynn St., Peabody facility from 3:00 until 7:00PM. A Celebration of his life will be held there at 7:00 PM. Expressions of sympathy may be made to Hospice of the North Shore, 75 Sylvan St., Suite 102 B,Danvers, MA 01923 or to the charity of your choice.