SVINARICH, Catherine ‘Kay’ – of Flint, age 83, passed away September 20, 2010 at McLaren Regional Medical Center. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated 11 am Friday, September 24, 2010 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 404 N. Dayton St., Davison; Rev. Fr. Andrew A. Czajkowski celebrant. Entombment will follow in New Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be 2-4 and 6-8 pm Wednesday and Thursday at Allen Funeral Home, 9136 Davison Rd., Davison. On Friday, there will be visitation at the church for one hour prior to the Mass. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or for Masses.

Kay was born in Windsor Heights, West Virginia, one of the ten children of Vid and Anna (Mucha) Svinarich. Her dad was a coal miner until an accident. At that time, Kay had to quit school and work to help her family. At the age of 16, she worked nine hours a day, six days a week for a wage of $10.00. Her mother did ironing for others. Kay moved to Michigan in 1944 where she worked as an automatic Host, which is a person who played piped music from a switchboard to other bars. She also worked at Smith Bridgeman’s and was at AC for over 40 years. A young Kay traveled a lot to various places such as Spain, Greece, Egypt, Hawaii, Nevada and Europe. It could not be said that she let grass grow under her feet! When she bought her home, Kay traveled less. She went back to school and graduated in 1967. Kay was a member of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church where she served the parish in many capacities. She later attended Holy Rosary. In her spare time, Kay loved to play Bingo and listen to Daniel O’Donnell, the Irish singer, whom she saw perform live in New York. She also enjoyed going to the casinos with friends.

Kay is survived by her siblings, Agnes Ovadek, Ann Heidenreich, John (Agnes) Svinarich, Vid (Millie) Svinarich and Robert (Virginia) Svinarich; several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by siblings, Frank and Tom Svinarich and Stella Lintz. Kay will be missed by her loving, caring friends, family, neighbors and special ‘brother’, Terry Warren and family.

Please share your thoughts with the family at www.allenfuneralhomeinc.com.