Sali Butler
To the Family of Kay Strawder,
It has taken me a moment to compose this memory. After sharing it with John a few weeks ago, I'm still filled with emotion because Kay Strawder was a colleague, employer, friend, mentor and sister in Christ. Meeting Kay over the telephone in 1999 was like meeting a lifelong agent of encouragement, empowerment and enthusiasm, all at once. When I started to develop my capstone project to complete my master degree in public health, I called Kay. She listened and told me very frankly, "Narrow that down. You have too many ideas; pick one; you're overthinking it." At the end of the chat, I had a thesis with five objectives and a platform from which I have been training community health workers for 12 years. Thanks to Kay, I figured it out. She wasn't wearing the Region IX Office of Women's Health hat that day. Instead, the wisdom of experience, "big Sis," critical thinker and great listener answered the phone; mentoring a "wanna be like you when I grow up," community health worker. That is the woman I learned to respect, admire, love, value and appreciate. Dr. Kay Strawder, extraordinaire woman of God.
The photos include Kay presenting at the Pacific Union Conference Black Ministries retreat for its Pastor & Family Care Retreat Lake Tahoe, 2019. She and cohort, Sheila James facilitated a two-part training about community collaboration and capacity building; engaging the director of Black Ministries, Virgil Childs; and a group photo including Dr. & Mrs. Ricardo Graham, yours truly, Kay, Shiela and Elder Childs.