Lois Eileen Kays

Lois Eileen Kays passed away peacefully on August 1st 2026 at the age ninety-nine and a half years old. Lois was born on February 16, 1927 in Stark County near Canton, Ohio to Howard W. Little and Jeanette M. Hatchel. Lois grew up an only child during the Great Depression living in a rural and rustic farmhouse her father built by hand. Lois’ mother became ill and incapacitated with what was thought to be rheumatic fever. Lois assumed caregiver and household duties at a very early age while her father was away for weeks at a time, desperate for any type of work as a lather and hack driver in the city. Lois loved her cat ‘Pepper,’ meadowlarks, wild flowers, and walking streambeds, leading to lifelong birding, gardening, cat fancy, and travel interests. Her father lost their house in the Great Depression and Lois’ family decamped to a warm climate for her mother’s health, tenting in an auto-camp near Saint Petersburg, Florida in 1935 – 36.

Lois recalls her family returning to Ohio in a small coupe with three in the front seat, and another family of three in the rumble seat, all their luggage on the running boards and the cat ‘Pepper’ singing in her father’s ear, all the way. In Ohio, her father began expanding a tool shed on a small lot behind the house they lost, into a new home, that at times lacked a roof and had no obvious front door. Lois Little attended North Canton High, thrilled to take class field trips to Yellowstone and Washington D.C. She graduated with honors in the “No-Ca-Hi” Class of ’46.

During WWII Lois worked summers at the Hoover Company and post-war at the Battelle Memorial Institute, doing classified industrial work. Lois’ interest in flying arose from Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 solo flight the year she was born. In high school she took pre-flight aeronautics, and ground school, learning to pilot a Piper Cub at age 18. Lois earned a Batchelor of Arts Degree at Ohio University in 1951, majoring in Geology. Lois began a Civil Service career with the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. as a cartographer in 1952.

She met Olaf Kays from Manhattan (“he seemed interesting”) in the Camera Club. They married in November 1954. Being an only child, Lois Kays was so happy to grow her family with a daughter, Rebecca in 1956, and son Thomas in 1958. Lois moved from an apartment in Arlington to a house under construction in the new development of North Springfield, Virginia. As a homemaker in Springfield for fifty-five years, Lois spoke fondly of all the young families and suburban community events.

Lois served as a Fairfax County Precinct Officer of Election for more than forty general, special and primary elections, spanning six President’s administrations. Lois joined the Springfield Acres Garden Club in 1962, serving as President five times, won the Lucy Brookfield Award seven times, became an honorary life member, and is honored with an annual ‘best of show’ award in her name. Lois conducted Garden Therapy Classes for seniors, studied Ikebana, scheduled the Neighborhood Watch, and when Lois’ husband Olaf purchased a Cherokee 140 aircraft, Lois refreshed her flight skills after fifty years as a ‘pinch-hitter’ capable of air navigation and safe landing. They enjoyed many happy weekends flying a hundred miles for brunches throughout the Del-Mar-Va region. Lois continued her love of travel including family beach vacations in the Outer Banks, adventuring in Maine, cruising Alaska, and flying by helicopter into the Grand Canyon. Lois in her mid-eighties continued to make adventure trips with her children to the desert Southwest in search of roadrunners in Sedona, and the Pacific Northwest coast touring Oregon to see sea lion caves near Cape Foulweather, Crater Lake, and Redwood forests in California.

Lois is preceded in death by her husband Olaf Kays in 2011. Lois is survived by two children: Rebecca Supinger (and spouse Robert Supinger), Thomas Kays (Dorothy Keough), three grandchildren: Katrina Spencer (David Spencer), Jennifer Supinger (Kaydee Supinger), and Barbara Anne Lamot (Richard Lamot) and four great-grandchildren: James Spencer, Raelynn Spencer, Preston Lamot, and Haley Lamot.

The family of Lois Kays will hold a celebration of life at a future date and wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the nursing, support, and activity staff at Paul Springs Retirement Community for giving Lois twelve years of excellent care allowing her to maintain her independence into age ninety-nine. Memorials may be given to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pennsylvania.