Retired North Platte attorney makes $10,000 contribution to events center

Harold and Pat Kay.

NORTH PLATTE -- The Mid-Plains Community College "Today's Vision -- Tomorrow's Reality" fundraising campaign recently announced they have received a $10,000 donation from retired North Platte attorney Harold Kay to be used toward building an Events Center at McCook Community College.

Although Kay has spent a large majority of his life in the North Platte area, his roots in McCook are strong and deep.

"My great-grandfather, Dr. Kay, moved to McCook in 1884," Kay said. "My grandfather was the first in the family to go all the way through McCook Public Schools. He finished school in 1895 and went on to become a U.S. Commissioner and Clerk of the District Court."

Kay said that he and his two sisters grew up in McCook during the Great Depression. In his teen years, he attained the rank of Eagle Scout -- an accomplishment that he believes has benefited him throughout his life.

Kay began his senior year of high school mid-term in the spring of 1944. After just one semester, however, his parents decided to move to Denver, so Kay attended school at Denver North for several months. When his parents decided to move to Omaha in November of 1944, Kay made a move of his own when he boarded a bus and headed back to McCook.

"I called the principal at the school and asked if I could finish my last six weeks of school there," he said.

Kay received the permission he was seeking and finished the remainder of his senior year at McCook. After completing high school in January 1945, Kay joined the Navy, where he served successfully until he was honorably discharged in August 1946.

The decision to return to McCook following his stint in the Navy was a fairly easy one for Kay. Not only could he use his GI Bill to attend classes at McCook Junior College, but he could do it alongside a certain someone that had caught his eye the year before -- Patricia "Pat" Larson.

"I told Pat I was just going to stay in McCook and go to college," Kay said, adding, "Her father, Leonard Larson, was the Superintendent of Schools and president of the college at the time."

Although he had always thought he'd become a doctor, Kay changed his career path and began taking business law classes at the college hoping to become a lawyer.

"I got words of wisdom from a lot of those teachers," he said. "I learned a great deal that year. It was a good experience and they put me on the right path."

After moving to Lincoln to further his education, Kay and Larson married in June of 1947. He graduated in three years rather than the usual four by studying diligently and taking summer classes. He was accepted into law school after taking the test only once and graduated in 1952 with a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree.

Kay accepted a job in Omaha and later moved to North Platte, where he would go on to garner numerous awards and accolades as he practiced law in the area for more than 55 years. Throughout his distinguished career, Kay's interest in education kept him close to the college and strengthened the roots developed by past generations in McCook.

"I realized that in all these years McCook has never had an Events Center and I believe the community and the college really needs one," he said. "It will be a feather in their cap."

Recently, Kay decided to contribute to that cause with a gift in the memory of his beloved wife, who died in 2008, and her parents, Leonard and Edith Larson.

"I owe a debt to that school," Kay said. "They helped me along in my life and I'd like to give something back to them."