Distinguished Alumna Katherine Gwaltney Remick '57
Education is Her Passion

Kay Remick has woven teaching and learning into every aspect of her life. Formally, her degrees include her diploma from St. Margaret's, a B.A. in history from Agnes Scott College, a master of education from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a master of library science from Catholic University.

At SMS, we know Kay as a graduate of the Class of 1957, president of the Alumnae Association from 1987-1989, and a Board of Governors member now in her second of two three-year terms.

As a governor, she has chaired the Educational Policy Committee and the Committee on Governors, co-chaired the Heritage and Future Campaign, and was on the steering committee of our recently concluded campaign, "Educating Young Women for Life."

She has been a featured presenter at our all-school Christmas luncheon. Finally, she is the mother of Charlotte, a young teacher who made her mark here.

In Richmond, they know her as a former school librarian at both Collegiate School and St. Christopher's, and children's librarian at the Pamunkey Regional Library. She is the creator and owner of Edward T. Rabbit & Co., Books for Children (named for her husband, Ted) from 1984-2001. There, she planned and provided year-round programs for children, including storytelling, puppetry, arts and crafts, and book signings by visiting authors. Kay also has worked at the University of Richmond, teaching writing using children's literature.

We are not the first to honor Kay. Related to her work with our alumnae board, Kay was elected to serve on the national board of the Alumni Program Council. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Booksellers for Children. In 1996, she received the coveted Lucille Pannell Award for outstanding children's bookstore programs, an award that is presented to just one bookstore owner nationally. And in 1998, she received the Spirit Award from the Association of Booksellers for Children.

Kay, this weekend marks both an end and a beginning for you. As you close the doors of Edward T. Rabbit, you open another door, and step into the world carrying the stories that you've lived.

In honoring Kay today, we also honor her family and express our appreciation to them for their support of her work with us: Her husband, Ted; her children, Tim, Charlotte, and Kate; and her grandchild, Charlie, son of Charlotte and Scot Wetzel-and one more is on the way!

In her years with us on the SMS Board of Governors, all of us have learned from Kay. She came to our school on the Rappahannock from her home in Smithfield on the James. Rivers are important to her, and she has helped us move the river to its central place in our school program.

Please join me in congratulating this year's recipient of the St. Margaret's School Distinguished Alumna Award, Kay Gwaltney Remick.

These remarks were made by Headmistress Margaret R. Broad at the award presentation.

A Life by the Books

"When a graduate who attended SMS for just a year and a half talks about the transformative power of this school's mission, others listen, especially when that alumna is Kay Gwaltney Remick," said Headmistress Margaret R. Broad.

This year's distinguished alumna speaks convincingly because of her love for both education and St. Margaret's School. "Education has never been an easy thing for me, but in my family, learning was part of our lives," Mrs. Remick said. "My mother and grandmother were teachers, and my Aunt Louise-one of my favorite people in the world-was the Smithfield librarian. We all read." Although her stay at SMS was brief, she made and has kept in touch with friends like Gwynn Barefoot Litchfield '57, Fitzie Wallace '57, and Ann Rivers Payne Hutcheson'55 since graduation.

So when then-Headmistress Viola Woolfolk called in the early 1980's and asked her to come onto the board of the Alumnae Association, Mrs. Remick said, "That was just it, after that."

Her current interests as an SMS governor include the River Program and faculty support. "I would love to see St. Margaret's become a model for the smaller girls' schools," she says. "I think we can do that."

(From the Spring/Summer 2001 Thistle)