Rev. Katherine (Kay) Greenleaf died in Poughkeepsie, NY on January 19, 2018 after a long illness. Kay was the only daughter of Helen, a Mexican school teacher and Richard, a Marxist newspaperman. Until she went off to college, her family was driven out of town about every two years because of her mother’s hot Latin temper and her father’s radical left-wing writing and speaking.
Kay was born in Orlando, Florida in 1939. She often spoke of her treasured memories of growing up by the Atlantic Ocean and Central Florida. She spent many years on a farm raising dairy goats and other small livestock and renovating an 1820 log farmhouse.
She considered herself to be a poet, writer, social worker, and minister. She was well read, loved language and words. Kay began writing as a child and continued writing poetry, short stories and sermons but she never published. She carried a note pad with her, ready to write when she saw something that touched her.
Kay taught high school drama, criminology and social work. Later, feeling a call to ministry, she enrolled in seminary and was ordained at First Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbus, OH. In 1998 she was called to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie where she served until her retirement in June of 2009.
Social Justice was one of her major concerns during her entire life. She was interested in world affairs and issues affecting the poor, gays, lesbians, transgendered people, people of color, and other marginalized people.
In 2004, after the Mayor of New Paltz, New York was prohibited from performing same-sex marriages, Kay volunteered to continue the marriages, which she did. She enlisted U.U. ministers and clergy from other denominations to help marry about 100 same-sex couples over the next several months. She and a U.U. colleague were arrested but in June of that year, the charges were dismissed.
Kay took people at face value and always saw the good in them. She was at her best when she was helping people with important rites of passage services, such as marriages, funerals, memorials and blessings of various kinds.
She is survived by her sister-in-law Linda Dackiw (George) and her cousins and their families: Carol Letson (Peter, Charles Hair (Gladys) and David Hair (Mary). She leaves Pat Sullivan, her partner and wife of 31 years, at home with their beloved pets.
Celebration of her life will be on April 21, 2018 at the Quaker Meeting House, 249 Hooker Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY. Visitation at 1:00 pm followed by a service at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU or Planned Parenthood. Arrangements are under the direction of the William G. Miller & Son Funeral Home, Inc. 371 Hooker Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603. To send an online condolence, please visit our website at www.wmgmillerfuneralhome.com
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