Kay Rice Robertson, a schoolteacher whose gentle kindness and clever wit touched all who knew her, died on December 28, 2021.

She was born Dana Katherine Rice on September 2, 1942, in Helena, Arkansas, the first child of Virginia and Paul Rice. After a childhood in the Mississippi Delta, she enrolled in Mississippi State College for Women in 1960, leaving for a year in 1961 to move to Belize, where her parents had taken up rice farming. She returned and finished her degree at Arkansas State Teacher's College; it was there she began dating high school classmate David Lee Robertson. The two were married on August 1, 1965, and returned to Helena, where he worked at Helena Chemical.  As Dave continued in the chemical industry, the Robertsons lived throughout the South, moving to Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas. In 1981, the family settled in Shreveport, Louisiana, where Kay began a long career in elementary education.

Kay viewed strangers as friends, and friends as relatives. Rare was the soul who left her house hungry or empty handed. ("What can I get for you?" was her way of saying both hello and farewell.) She poured her all into family-- whether that meant a spontaneous mermaid costume, or a lifetime supply of sausage dip. She was at her happiest with a sun-drenched beach chair-- on the shores of a lake, an ocean or by her backyard pool, where she spent her summer breaks from school toggling between pajamas and bathing suit.

In retirement, she found a passion for pottery, turning out platters and bowls, each a reflection of her own beauty. We miss her boundless heart and easy laugh. We miss her daily calls with the weather report. If you were lucky enough to be in her orbit, your world was better for it.

The family will hold a private memorial service on April 2. Survivors include her sister and brother-in-law, Frances and Bob O'Dea of Memphis, TN; her children David Robertson of Cedar Hill, TX, Greg Robertson of Fort Collins, CO and Shelley Lynn of Keithville, LA; her grandchildren Grace Robertson, Noah Robertson and Carter Crisp; niece Erin O'Dea.