Kay Helen Mills

Our dearest sweet Kay was born in Austin, Texas, to Dominick John and Alvina Johnson Kozlowski. Kay was the oldest of three brothers and three sisters. She attended Catholic schools through the ninth grade and graduated from Travis High School in 1963. She immediately went to work for the Texas Highway Department after attending business school. She met the love of her life, Barry, shortly before his deployment overseas with the Air Force in 1968, which resulted in a sixteen-month letter writing campaign that culminated in their marriage three months after his return in 1970, reinforcing the concepts of “love at first sight” and “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. They lived in Sacramento, CA, until Barry’s discharge in 1972. They became parents to two amazing children, Tamara (1973) and Todd (1977) and settled in Lubbock in 1974 for Barry’s job. It was quickly decided Kay would become a stay-at-home mom so she could play a vital role in her children’s lives as Barry’s job dictated his frequent absence. She was a lifetime member of the PTA, a Girl Scout leader, and volunteered for anything having to do with her children.

Kay loved to take cruises, work in her flower beds, and should have been born a fish, as from an early age, she worked at Barton Springs pool in Austin and, in later life, cherished water aerobics and biennial trips to South Padre Island. She was a twenty-seven year breast cancer survivor who never let that slow her down. Barry and Kay celebrated fifty-four years of true marriage bliss in July. Born of Swedish and Lithuanian decent, Kay impressed Barry with her gorgeous blue eyes and pretty blonde pigtails she wore the night they met. She claimed all the stars in the heavens lit up that same night when he kissed her for the first time! When she asked the priest many times if she would ever find that perfect mate, he told her it would happen when least expected. How true that was.

Some of the happiest days of Kay’s life were those thirteen years of Barry’s retirement beginning in 2011: more time to travel without him constantly being on the phone. Vacation cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, Alaska, Italy, tours of the California wine country, and numerous trips to New Orleans for that scrumptious French cuisine were just a few of many memorable experiences.

Kay was such a loving person and never let a day go by without telling Barry she loved him on a daily basis. She constantly exclaimed she was the luckiest girl in the world. The feeling was mutual and their undying love for one another will carry on forever.

Kay was preceded in death by her parents: Dominick and Alvina Kozlowski.
Survivors include her husband, Barry; daughter, Tamara Jubenville (Mark); son, Todd (Sabina); beloved grandson Cooper Mills; bonus grandsons Ian and Connor Jubenville; sisters Patsy Eppright (Charlie), Joyce Cleven (Mike), Janice Johnson (Terry); brothers Tommy, Dan, and Tim Kozlowski; brother-in-law Rodney Mills (Jeannie); sister-in-law Peggy McGehee; close cousins Bill Kearns (Marilyn) and Barbara Visage, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

A rosary is scheduled for Monday, August 26, at Lakeridge Memorial Designers from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. with visitation to follow. Funeral mass at Christ the King Catholic Church at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 27. Burial will be at the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Lubbock at a later date.

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