Kathryn Jordahn Rybovich

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA – Kay Rybovich used to say that she lived a life far better than she could ever have expected.

Kay was a wonderful wife and mother, and a lady angler who made a way for other women, not just in the world of competitive deep sea fishing but in other facets of life. She was a faithful Christian, ardent conservationist, beloved member of the Palm Beach community, master bridge player, savvy investor and a natural socializer whose warmth lit up a thousand gatherings.

Kay Rybovich died on July 18, 2016 after a period of declining health. She needed 99 years to squeeze it all into one extraordinary life.

Kay was born on June 16, 1917, in Jersey City, NJ, the second of Erik and Beatrice Jordahn’s four children. Kay moved to South Florida at age seven because of two events in her young life. Repeated bouts of pneumonia, the last one nearly fatal, and the death of her father, a Danish-born U.S. Navy officer, prompted her mother to move with her children to South Florida to be nearer to family. Already living in South Florida in 1924 were four of her father’s brothers and a sister. One of her father’s brothers was Gus Jordahn, a larger-than-life character living in Palm Beach, FL.

Here, in South Florida, Kay’s life blossomed.

Kay graduated from Palm Beach High School in 1934, an honors student named the best in math and a well-regarded tennis player on the PBHS tennis team. After being graduated by Palm Beach High School, Kay went to work for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in a clerical role. Three years later, life took a golden turn when she met a handsome young man at a dance at the Palm Beach Yacht Club. Impressed by this high-energy blonde with bright blue eyes, John Rybovich, Jr. invited Kay on a first date—fishing on his 24-foot boat. Kay landed several big kingfish and a sailfish discovering a passion for fishing that would last a lifetime. Much to her chagrin at the time, John released Kay’s first sailfish, an introduction to conservation that became her mantra.

John and Kay Rybovich were married on September 9, 1941, in West Palm Beach, the start of a lifetime of love and adventure.

During World War II, Kay accompanied John to Cincinnati and then to San Francisco, where John was stationed as a captain in the U.S. Army Transportation Corp. When the war ended, Kay and John returned to West Palm Beach, where John, the eldest of three brothers, assumed the role of president of the family business, John Rybovich & Sons Boat Works. For thirty years, until the business was sold in 1975, Kay was John’s social director with a wonderful knack for entertaining customers, many of whom became lifelong friends.

Kay was one of three co-founders of the International Women’s Fishing Association (IWFA) in 1955, helping to put women on equal footing in then male-dominated big-game fishing tournaments. Through fishing tournaments, conservation efforts and the camaraderie it all inspired, the IWFA introduced sport fishing into the lives of many women. The Kay Rybovich Trophy is awarded by the IWFA to the member who weighs and/or releases the most variety of fish. Kay was inducted into the IWFA Hall of Fame in 1994 and into the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Hall of Fame in 1998. As memorable as any of her honors, however, was the time during a 1950’s fishing tournament in Havana, Cuba, when “Ernesto” Hemingway—not a bad fisherman and writer—kissed her hand.

Kay belonged to the International Women’s Fishing Association, the Sailfish Club of Florida, the Palm Beach Yacht Club, West Palm Beach Fishing Club, and the Billfish Foundation. Kay was also part of the PEO Sisterhood which promotes educational opportunities for women. In addition to the foregoing, Kay was also an ardent supporter of the Rehabilitation Center for Children & Adults and worked on a number of committees for various local charitable events. Each affiliation spawned many lasting friendships, such was her vivacious personality.

Kay and John were the first couple to be honored with the “One & Only” Award from the Town of Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the community. Kay was honored for her charitable works while John was honored for his conservation efforts. Kay served as a Centennial Ambassador for the Town of Palm Beach’s 100th birthday in 2011. Kay was a natural at the game of bridge, another of Kay’s passions right up there with fishing, for which she became well known, being named a Life Master by the American Contract Bridge League.

Kay is survived by two children—John Jordahn Rybovich and his wife, Lynn, of Raleigh, NC, and Sally Rybovich Altizer and her husband, Howard, of High Point, NC; sister-in-laws Polly Jordahn of Ajijic, Mexico, and Mary Rybovich McLane of Glen Ridge, FL; and 21 nieces and nephews. Kay was predeceased by her parents, Erik and Beatrice Jordahn; brother, Erik Jordahn; and sisters, Marion Mooney and Anna Elsa (Sue) Klein.

A service to celebrate her life will be Monday, September 26, 2016, at 11:00AM in the Royal Poinciana Chapel, 60 Cocoanut Row, Palm Beach, with Dr. Robert S. Norris officiating. Visitation follows at the chapel. Kay enjoyed worshipping at the chapel, and found the people there so welcoming.

Instead of flowers, the family encourages gifts to the charity of your choice. Quattlebaum Funeral, Cremation and Event Center is taking care of the family.

The family is deeply grateful for the love and care shown to Kay by the staff and residents of Lourdes Pavilion in West Palm Beach, where she happily spent the last years of her life. So many others eased her burden over the years: caregivers from A Nurses’ Registry; the devoted people of TrustBridge Health; her oncologist, Dr. James Harris, and her dentist, Dr. John Jordan.

What a life…

Her family, faith and this country that she dearly loved meant everything to her. She cherished her many friends, forever grateful for the joy they brought to her life—fishing, playing bridge, traveling the world, sharing a meal or a cocktail, enjoying happy days she spent at Lourdes Pavilion. Kay was quick to laugh, and to make others laugh with her sense of humor.