Kay was born to Roy and Mary Neal in the small southern town of Lonoke, Arkansas (located just outside Little Rock). She grew up there in the 1920's, surrounded by an extended family of her mother's relatives. She kept a wonderful picture on her "photo shelf" of a gathering of her mother's family around the turn of the century; at the center was her mother who was a beautiful girl of about 10 years of age. Her mother met Roy Neal, married, and had three children including LeRoy, Jr. (known as Bud), Katherine and her sister, Evelyn. Times were lean, and when Kay was about 10, the family moved across the country to southern California, the land of palm trees, orange groves, sunny skies, and job opportunities. They ended up in Hollywood, California where Roy worked as a tailor/presser and bet on the horses. Kay attended the local schools, including Hollywood High School where she met her best friend for life, Virginia Kefes. Kay loved to dance, date, collect autographs of movie stars with her friend Virginia, and play tennis. She met Gerald Pierce at the Griffith Park tennis courts in 1939; they married a short time later and had two children in the 1940's, Gary and Janet. After Kay's husband Jerry died, she re-married, a master carpenter, named James Cobb. They were a wonderful couple, often spending time in their homey little cabin in Big Bear. They loved their dachshunds Ricky and Nicky. Jim would often rehab older houses, as well as sign on for hitches in the merchant marine. After many years of marriage, Kay and Jim divorced. Kay worked for many years at Sears, and in her free time loved to square dance. In the last decade of her life, she moved to Emerald Court, a retirement complex in Anaheim, where she met some great friends. She was like an ambassador there, welcoming people and always quick to smile and say hello, introducing people to each other. She used a walker and dealt with several major health issues, but rarely if ever complained. She would just say, "some days are better than others." She loved her bible studies and her family which by then included grandchildren, Pam, Lori and Gary Lee, as well as great-grandchildren. Her "photo shelf" was crowded with pictures of them all. Kay would also speak of her "angel", neice Charlene who looked after her in a myriad of ways. Kay died in 2008 and is buried in the family plot at Pacific Crest Cemetery.
Kay was born to Roy and Mary Neal in the small southern town of Lonoke, Arkansas (located just outside Little Rock). She grew up there in the 1920's, surrounded by an extended family of her mother's relatives. She kept a wonderful picture on her "photo shelf" of a gathering of her mother's family around the turn of the century; at the center was her mother who was a beautiful girl of about 10 years of age. Her mother met Roy Neal, married, and had three children including LeRoy, Jr. (known as Bud), Katherine and her sister, Evelyn. Times were lean, and when Kay was about 10, the family moved across the country to southern California, the land of palm trees, orange groves, sunny skies, and job opportunities. They ended up in Hollywood, California where Roy worked as a tailor/presser and bet on the horses. Kay attended the local schools, including Hollywood High School where she met her best friend for life, Virginia Kefes. Kay loved to dance, date, collect autographs of movie stars with her friend Virginia, and play tennis. She met Gerald Pierce at the Griffith Park tennis courts in 1939; they married a short time later and had two children in the 1940's, Gary and Janet. After Kay's husband Jerry died, she re-married, a master carpenter, named James Cobb. They were a wonderful couple, often spending time in their homey little cabin in Big Bear. They loved their dachshunds Ricky and Nicky. Jim would often rehab older houses, as well as sign on for hitches in the merchant marine. After many years of marriage, Kay and Jim divorced. Kay worked for many years at Sears, and in her free time loved to square dance. In the last decade of her life, she moved to Emerald Court, a retirement complex in Anaheim, where she met some great friends. She was like an ambassador there, welcoming people and always quick to smile and say hello, introducing people to each other. She used a walker and dealt with several major health issues, but rarely if ever complained. She would just say, "some days are better than others." She loved her bible studies and her family which by then included grandchildren, Pam, Lori and Gary Lee, as well as great-grandchildren. Her "photo shelf" was crowded with pictures of them all. Kay would also speak of her "angel", neice Charlene who looked after her in a myriad of ways. Kay died in 2008 and is buried in the family plot at Pacific Crest Cemetery.
