Kay Zopes

I was still planning to attend more oldies concerts and go on fabulous vacations, but apparently pancreatic cancer decided I should pass away on November 9, 2020. I left the mortal world leaving behind 8 cans of coffee and 5 cases of Diet Coke. This casts doubts on my chances for eternal rest.

But, back to the subject of my life. My parents Madge and Jim Rieben, and my older brother Jimmy, celebrated my birth on a sunny day on May 12, 1946. I had light blonde curly hair as a toddler. I dyed and permed my hair for years trying to get it to return to that original state.

As a child, I walked to Rosslyn Heights elementary school. According to my report cards, my teachers remembered me most for excessive talking. On one occasion I kicked the principal. My creativity in school included using a restroom pass to mix up all the jackets, hats and gloves on the coat hooks in order to be the first one on the playground to save for myself the best “tricky bar”. I was known to roll all the way home from school in the snow.

I have so many memories that did not seem significant at the time but were never forgotten. I loved my Mother standing at the ironing board where she would give me her undivided attention while I talked for an hour at a time. My brother pretended to be a comic book character, Bombie the Zombie, and terrified me whenever my parents were away. I loved playing in a drawer at my Grandmother’s house and pondering the mysterious gadgets that attached to her sewing machine. I loved the smell of fresh bread baking at my friend Jane’s house.

I graduated from Highland High School, where I was devastated by not being chosen for Pep Club. I received a history degree and Certificate in International Relations from the University of Utah in 1968 and spent my afternoons working for the campaign of my hero, Robert Kennedy. I also earned a master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Utah in 1976 in order to actually be qualified for a job.

Answering President Kennedy’s call to “ask what you can do for your country.” I was commissioned a lieutenant in the Women’s Army Corps. During the Women’s Officers’ Basic Course at Fort McClellan, Alabama, I was proudly known for wearing the most flattering uniform hat in my class. While stationed in the Military District of Washington, I worked on the Cherry Blossom Festival, President Eisenhower’s Funeral (where I met Walter Cronkite) and was chosen “Miss Military District of Washington” which qualified me to cut a cake at the USO with the Commanding General.

While in the Army, I attended a parade at Fort Meade, MD. A young man named Vernon Zopes approached me. He had a reputation for telling the troops in his command that as far as they were concerned, “He was God.” Even though I was not religious, I ended up marrying this man with the “God complex”.

I loved many, many things including cats, quilting, Hershey bars, The Beach Boys, Disneyland, yearly trips to the beach with my lifelong friend Mary, Herman’s Hermits, reading in the bathtub, University of Utah gymnastics, painting, cheese, and above all, my family and friends.

While I was good at sewing, tap dancing, and beading, I was equally unskilled at singing and cooking.

I worked as a bank teller in Utah and California. I was an expert at balancing money at the bank, but had been turned off to a banking career when my Dad asked me to become his secretary and bring him his morning coffee.

I taught special education students in the Granite and Salt Lake City School Districts for twenty-one years. I had a strong desire to make a difference in the lives of my students. By the end of my career, I retired with a bad back and an even worse attitude.

I am survived by my beautiful daughters, Kelly Zopes and Kristy (John) Downing, who ended up following in my footsteps as teachers. Kelly has a gift for knowing a great deal about every subject anyone brings up. And Kristy is able to organize anything probably due to trying to squeeze in time for homework and fun despite spending 6 hours a night after school learning gymnastics.

Just as I thought I was too old to fall in love again, I became a grandmother. I was a renowned distributor of Kid’s Cuisine meals and trips to Toys R Us. I liked to turn on TV programs such as SpongeBob Squarepants, sometimes when the grandchildren were actually visiting.

To all of my Noonatic friends, please hold a glow stick in each hand at the next concert, one for you and one for me.

I was preceded in death by my husband, Mother, Father, Brother, my beloved cats and dogs, a 1962 Ford Falcon and a gallbladder.

I request there be no funeral service. I would like my ashes scattered in the ocean where I can swim with the dolphins forever. In lieu of flower send donations to petsmartcharities.