Glenna Kay Gregory-Clark

Glenna Kay Smith entered this world on September 2, 1944, the daughter of Harold Louis and Minnie Cornelia (Fulwider) Smith, in Terre Haute, Indiana, and passed away peacefully on August 13, 2021, at Harry Hynes Hospice in Wichita, Kansas, after an 8 year battle with breast cancer.

At a young age, Kay and the family first moved to Lansing, Illinois; eventually settling in Sauk Village.  She graduated from Bloom High School in 1962, then attended and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism.  Her first job as a journalist was with the Herrin, Illinois newspaper.  She later was a reporter for the Chicago Heights Star newspaper in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Kay also taught journalism classes at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights.

Kay was a woman of many talents and went on to open a graphic design and desktop publishing business in Decatur, Illinois.  Always one for adventure and new challenges, she moved to Topeka, Kansas and began working for Santa Fe Railroad as a writer of procedures and policies.  She took many weekend jaunts exploring what Kansas had to offer.  It was one of these jaunts where she discovered the tall grass prairie and Chase County and fell in love with the serenity and peacefulness of the prairie.

She took a job as manager of a local women's retreat and guest house, moving to Bazaar, Kansas, later moving to her “little house on the prairie” closer to the ranch and near Matfield Green.  There, in 2002, she met a guy named Charlie, marrying him in January of 2004.  After retiring, they moved to a little piece of paradise near Burns, Kansas and lived there until her passing.

Even though she was retired, she never stopped working and giving of herself.  She was an active member of the Bazaar Ladies Aid for many years and active in her local church.  She loved doing genealogy research, scrapbooking, flowers, and her beloved prairie.  Through her genealogy research, she was able to verify her lineage as a descendant of a soldier who served in the Continental Army of the American Revolution and became a member of the Susannah French Putney Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  This was truly one of the highlights of Kay's life.

Kay loved so many, and she was loved by so many in return.  She will be missed.  Kay leaves behind her husband Charlie Clark, Burns, Kansas, son Todd (Kelly) Gregory, granddaughters Tabitha and Katie Jo, Beecher, Illinois, brother Carroll (Pat) Smith, Arlington, Texas, stepson Chris (Carrie) Clark and grandson Beckett, Bremerton, Washington, stepson Mike (Anna) Clark and grandsons Matthew and Jonathan, Downs, Illinois, and a host of nieces, nephews, family, and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents and infant daughter Rebecca.

Memorial service will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, June 18, 2022 at the Cottonwood Falls First Presbyterian Church. Inurnment will follow at the Bazaar Cemetery. Family will greet friends from 5-7 p.m. Friday, June 17, 2022, at Brown-Bennett-Alexander Funeral Home.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation, Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice of Wichita, March of Dimes for Babies, or the Salvation Army, in care of Brown-Bennett-Alexander Funeral Home PO Box 220, Cottonwood Falls, KS 66845.

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