Kay Burky

Kay Burky passed away peacefully on March 18th after a brief illness. She was the beloved wife of Scott Burky who was by her side not only in life, but in her final days, hours, and minutes. Kay was the love of Scott’s life and they enjoyed nearly 30 years together.

She is survived by her mother, June (Strohm) Adams; sister, Kim Shannon (Sean); sisters-in-law: Stephanie Carsto (Ken) and Susan Burky; brother-in-law, Steven Burky; and eight nieces and nephews: Kate, Stephen, Autumne, Sean Jr. Meaghan, Angelina, Logan, and Mason. Kay was preceded in death by her father, Homer Adams.

Kay once shared that “while nobody was watching, I led a remarkable life.” She certainly did and intently private about her life and her health, she will not be happy that Scott took this moment to tell her story, but if not now, when?

It started with Kay’s first part time job at Twin Kiss in Lititz where she met lifelong friends and learned the importance of attention to detail. The summer after graduation when she thought she would take the summer off, her dad, who was very principled, gave her a kick in the butt and firmly said, “you need to get a full-time job with benefits.” That led to a forty-year career in banking that began as a teller at Farmer’s First Bank and finished with her final fourteen years at Fulton Financial Corporation before she retired in May 2021. Kay joined Fulton in March of 2017 and was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Training before finishing her career as Senior Vice President, Senior Change Management Human Resource Business Partner in the Office of Change Management.

Throughout her career, Kay navigated numerous bank mergers and as a diligent, hard-working, passionate, and team player she always landed on her feet. From her twenty-year tenure at Meridian Bank through to First Union, her time at D&E Communications as Training and Employee Development Manager to Waypoint Bank as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and an entrepreneurial time as Burky Training and Consulting providing sales and leadership training to banks and other organizations, she was always focused on doing her best and had high expectations of those around her.

Kay’s remarkable life also included going back to start her bachelor’s degree at age 50. She always regretted not going to college, although her work ethic allowed her to achieve great success, reaching the level of Senior Vice President without a college degree. Kay started at Albright College in 2007 with zero credits and in four and half years; while working full-time managing a team of twenty people, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Psychology and Organizational Behavior. She was a member of the Psi Chi National Honor Society, received the Green-Lee Academic Achievement Award for exceptional academic achievement, leadership ability, and contribution to her field of study and was the graduation speaker. The title of her Applied Project for graduation was: “Beyond Traditional Gender Roles: Achievement-Oriented Activities and Women’s Midlife Well-Being.” Kay presented a synopsis of her paper entitled “The Stigmatization of Women Growing Old” at The Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges Women’s Conference in March of 2012.

After taking a year off, she went on to get her Master of Science degree in Human Resource Development and Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) and SHRM-SCP certifications from Villanova University in two years. At the time, Kay encouraged Scott to get his Master’s degree as well—knowing it would keep him busy and allowing them both to share in the experience.

Kay wanted her Master’s degree so she could teach adults working to complete their college degrees. Kay felt passionately that continued education was key to personal and professional growth. Kay was briefly an adjunct faculty at Elizabethtown College and adjunct faculty for seven years at Penn State Berks Campus teaching courses in the Organizational Leadership bachelor’s program. Scott was so proud to share that Kay taught at his alma mater, Penn State and especially at Penn State Berks Campus where he started his college experience.

Kay was always driven by the need for challenging work and a sense of accomplishment. She was an early riser and earlier in life she would see women out for morning walks in her development and wondered “what’s holding me back?” She started running, gradually at first and then a half mile turned into a mile and then two to three miles. She ended up running her first five-mile race and was hooked. Scott ever the romanticist and dreamer suggested they participate in the Leukemia Society’s Tean in Training program running a marathon and raising money in honor of Kay’s mom who was battling leukemia at the time. It seemed like a fun challenge—until Kay posted the four-month training schedule on flip chart paper on the kitchen wall. Kay—always mapping out a plan. They completed the inaugural Rock and Roll Half Marathon in San Diego in 1998…not fast, but finished. They also completed the Walt Disney Marathon in 2001. The Pretzel Twist Run, the Easter Egg Run and the Freshburst Run in Lititz were on the calendar for many years. A highlight of Kay’s running career was finishing second in her age group in the Southern Most Half Marathon in Key West in 2014.

Kay enjoyed travelling with Scott and their honeymoon in Key West led to annual trips to Key West and wonderful memories of sunsets, dinners and Kay’s favorite, seeing the headlining band at Sloppy Joe’s at 10 pm nearly every night. Kay’s family vacationed in Ocean City many years, which led to Kay and Scott buying a house in Ocean City in 2008. From that first winter through New Year’s Eve this year, great memories were made with family and friends. One of Kay’s favorite things to do was get up for sunrise and walk from 34th street to the fishing pier at 14th street and back. This five-mile walk was always special to Kay and meaningful as she never took her health for granted.

In 2020 she was diagnosed with a blood cancer that initially prevented her from walks. The blood cancer was a dark cloud that hung over Kay for many years, but you would never know it because Kay was intently private about those things. When asked if she could rewind the clock in life to a point, Kay was quick to choose her birthday in 2019, the last time she was ran on the boardwalk in Ocean City. She treasured the picture from that run and it always held a special spot on her desk.

When Kay retired, she kept her routines. Each morning, she got her cup of coffee and read Heather Cox Richardson’s daily historical/political blog on Facebook, regularly commenting. She watched Dana Bash at noon on CNN every day while eating lunch. Needless to say, she became very interested in politics. She joined the Warwick Democratic Committee and was the treasurer for school board candidates and recently became the treasurer for the Warwick Democratic Committee.

Additionally, Kay served on the Lititz Library Board, Chaired the Search Committee for the new Executive Director, Co-Chaired the 25th Anniversary Celebration Committee with Scott and was an active member of the library’s Friends Group. As a long-time supporter of United Way, Kay was involved with the United Way of Lancaster County Women United, Chairing the Grant Committee for several years and most recently moving into the Chair role for Women United. Earlier in her career she served on the board of the Susquehanna Valley Red Cross.

Also in retirement, Kay became an avid reader. Her favorite books were biographies, including Brian Wilson, Freddie Mercury, Barbra Streisand, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Liz Cheney. She also enjoyed suspense novels by Freida McFadden and Lisa Gardner.

Kay was a big planner. Family gatherings, holiday parties, wine tasting with friends, Thanksgiving Dinners, all started with a menu and a list. She was so organized which allowed her such success in her career and in creating wonderful memories for family and friends year after year.

Kay would be embarrassed by the amount of detail included here, but her life truly was remarkable. Scott is proud to be Kay’s husband and knows he is a better person because of her—he gives all the credit to Kay for shaping him into the person he is today. She was the love of his life, his dearest Kay, his Kay-bird, his beautiful wife and like many around him, he is heartbroken that she is gone too soon.

The family wants to thank Kay’s doctors and nurses at Lancaster General Hospital. There were so many caring and kind moments over the past few months that helped to make a very difficult time a bit easier. Scott wants to specifically thank Carleigh, Bryan, Aly, Lex, and our angel Brielle along with the entire team in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit on 5 Lime for all the care and support they provided to Kay and to him. We also want to thank the staff and nurses at Moravian Manor for providing Kay with a comforting environment during her rehabilitation.

When you think of Kay, think of kindness. Take time to smile at a stranger when you pass. As Kay saw, most times they will smile back.

To honor Kay, contributions can be made to the Lititz Public Library Capital Campaign or the United Way of Lancaster County’s Women United.

Friends will be received from 9-11 AM with a Celebration of Kay’s Life beginning at 11 AM on Saturday, April 4, 2026 at the Charles F. Snyder, Jr. Funeral Home & Crematory, 3110 Lititz Pike, Lititz, PA 17543.