Judy Kay started her career as a Niagara Gazette reporter and columnist by contributing reviews of local live shows and concerts.

In those early days of what would become a decades-long career in local journalism, Kay often attended events at local venues like the old Melody Fair in North Tonawanda with one of her favorite sidekicks, her sister, Sue “Susie” Barnes.

“She’d always have two tickets because she could bring a friend,” Barnes said. “It was great being with my big sis.”

Those early outings were the start of a close relationship the two sisters built over the course of decades.

They frequently saw live performances and concerts together at the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda.

Barnes said their nights out together often involved dinner at Webster’s Bistro & Bar in the Lumber City or Olive Garden, her sister Judy’s favorite restaurant.

Earlier this year, the sisters did something that Barnes said gave Judy a big thrill.

They saw Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film in a local theater.

“She was very much into music,” Barnes said. “She loved music. She loved to dance.”

“We actually got closer as I got older because then I could do things with her that I appreciated,” she added. “She was usually the entertainment director. She would get me involved.”

The many fun evenings out, attending a show or listening to music, are a huge part of what Barnes said she’ll miss most about her big sister, Judy, who passed away on Nov. 24 at age 82.

“She called me every day,” Barnes said.

Born in Niagara Falls on March 13, 1941, Kay graduated from Niagara Falls High School and attended Ohio University where she studied journalism. While she did not graduate with a degree she never lost her interest in reporting or writing.

Kay, whose maiden name was Morgan, married Howard Kay on Dec. 29, 1963. The pair lived in Massachusetts for a while where they had their first child, a son named Adam. The couple later moved back to the Falls area, purchasing a home in Youngstown where they had their second son, Jason.

Barnes said Judy pursued work at the Gazette, following in the footsteps of their mother, Janet Morgan, who worked as a proofreader and a radio and television editor at the newspaper for years. Susie Barnes also worked at the Gazette at one time, making the newspaper business a true family affair.

“Judy was an excellent student, a super A student,” Barnes said. “Judy was very smart. She loved to read and loved to write.”

Kay’s contributions as a concert and live event reviewer eventually helped her land a job as a full-time reporter.

“She was very devoted to getting the facts straight and asking the hard questions,” Barnes said. “She wanted the truth and the facts and she would backcheck everything.”

Kay later earned a more coveted position as a regular columnist, which Barnes said her sister considered one of the biggest accomplishments in her career.

“She loved it when people recognized her when they said, ‘Oh, you’re Judy Kay from the Gazette.’ She loved the celebrity. She loved being in the limelight,” Barnes said.

Kay was widely known — both through her personality and her writing — for having a straightforward, “tell it like it is” demeanor and for having what was often a biting sense of humor.

“She could be very sarcastic,” Barnes said. “She never held back. She’d never learned to keep her mouth shut. She had no filters whatsoever.”

Barnes recalled how her sister’s signature sense of humor was on full display in 1997 when she wrote a piece about her little sister’s upcoming wedding plans. It was Barnes’ third marriage, which she said her sister found very amusing. Barnes said Kay showed up to the event wearing a tuxedo shirt.

“She thought it was so funny that I was having a big bash in the backyard with a white dress and everything,” Barnes recalled.

“In her column about my wedding, she wrote that she couldn’t reveal the location because all of the tractors in Ransomville would show up,” Barnes added.

Cheryl Irish-Butera first met Judy Kay while working for the Mental Health Association of Niagara County in the early 1990s. The pair worked together on a series of stories about Forest Glen, a mobile home subdivision where the residents were forced to relocate amid contamination concerns.

She said it was evident to her from Kay’s work on those stories — and dozens and dozens of others that often focused on local residents’ struggles and triumphs — that people were important to Kay.

‘I don’t know if she did any stories that were not of a personal nature,” Irish-Butera said. ‘They were heartwarming stories, stories that might give you a sigh of relief when you got done reading that particular story. That’s because she cared.”

“She had a really good heart,” Irish-Butera added. “She was a people person who really connected with your emotions and a person’s heart.”

Over the years, the two became close friends.

In 2018, Judy came out of retirement to pen a piece for the Gazette when Irish-Butera’s mother, local artist Florence Johnson Irish, donated one of her paintings to Schoellkopf Health Center.

Irish-Butera said she’ll miss her friend’s sense of humor and her hugs.

“A person doesn’t have endless numbers that those you could call close friends, but she was,” Irish-Butera said. “We never said goodbye without a hug. She was a hugger. She wasn’t afraid to get close. When one of those people in your life leaves, you are always going to miss them, but you just always give them a hug and tell them that you love them.”

After retiring from the Gazette after more than 20 years of work as a columnist and features reporter, Kay took a public relations position with the Aquarium of Niagara. In her spare time, she remained active with two local organizations, the Girl Scouts of America and the Mental Health Association of Niagara County. Judy Kay was also an animal lover and avid gardener who loved walking along the beach, listening to Jimmy Buffet music and collecting pelicans.

Barnes said she thinks her sister was probably most proud of the many stories she wrote about mental health issues and how her work touched the lives of many who dealt with personal challenges and, at times, struggled to find the right kind of help.

“She would reach so many people with her stories,” Barnes said.

While dealing with the loss of her sister has been difficult, Barnes said the experience has been made easier by the outpouring of support she has received from many people who knew Judy and followed her work at the Gazette. The show of support has included many of Judy’s former colleagues from her days working for the newspaper, which has also been helpful to Kay and her family.

“I think she entertained so many people,” Barnes said. “She made people happy with her columns and people looked forward to reading them so when they met her they were just so excited because she just reached so many different people.”