Sylvia Kay

Sylvia G. Kay, age 95, wife of the late Dr. Perry M. Kay of Los Angeles, passed away on Monday, March 29th, 2021 at her Woodland Hills residence of 57 years. Despite being separated from her husband for over 16 years, she remained a strong and independent woman, surviving an almost fatal car crash in 2013 and making a full recovery, at the age of 88, to return to her home and live peacefully alone.
Born June 4, 1925, in Hollywood, California, she was the daughter of the late Chester N. Godshalk and Ruth P. Godshalk. She grew up in the neighborhood under the Hollywood sign, where her mother had a lovely Florist shop. Sylvia attended Hollywood High School, where she was the first woman to win the Physics Cup, second woman to win Chemistry Cup, and second person to win both.
Sylvia received her Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry and performed her Post-Graduate work in Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she met the love of her life, Perry Kay. She became an amazing Math and Science Teacher and eventually a Principal at Meadow Oaks Elementary and Junior High School during the 45 years of her career. Her grandchildren often called her for Calculus help, which she would be able to answer over the phone like it was nothing!
As the Matriarch of the family, she instilled a deep love of education and reading that accelerated her children and grandchildren’s careers. She was a co-founder of the Gifted Children Association of the San Fernando Valley as well as a member of PEO, a philanthropist educational organization, for over 50 years.
She was an avid UCLA Basketball and Football, USC Basketball and Football (only because her husband went there!) and the Los Angeles Dodgers fan. She was always so engaged when the games were on, rooting for her team to win!
She was an avid animal lover, rescuing over a dozen cats throughout her lifetime and passing along the love of animals to her family. She was an active gardener, her tomato plants were famous for being the tastiest in town and she always had one grapefruit a day in the morning. She loved to bake, passing along this love to her son, Keith, and grandchildren.
Most importantly, she loved being a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Later in her life, she was fondly called Nana by anyone who met her. Nana Sylvia was special, amazing, and so truly and deeply loved by her family and her community.
Sylvia is survived by her 3 children, Keith Kay, Steve Kay, his wife, Cathy Kay, and Candy McGoldrick, and her husband, David McGoldrick; her 4 grandchildren, Courtney Lasley, her husband Aaron Lasley, Robert (RJ) Kay, his wife Shannon Kay, Brittany McGoldrick, her fiancé, Paul McCann, and Loreen Komisar, and her husband, Alex Komisar; and her 6 great-grandchildren, Nick, Carson, Matthew, Caden, Liam, and Willow.
Thank you Nana Sylvia for creating countless family traditions; for teaching us how to play Hand & Foot card games, for providing us with endless books to read, for making us matching outfits as kids, and for feeding us with endless Jelly Belly beans, cookies, and bread to eat when we visited. You were the most generous person we knew, always giving and helping those in need. We all already miss you and will love you forever.