Killarney Kathryn Carroll Carr McReynolds Obituary

Description: Killarney Kathryn Carroll Carr McReynolds Obituary... Our Heartfelt Condolences To Her Loved Ones...

Killarney Kathryn Carroll Carr McReynolds

APRIL 19, 1944 – MARCH 14, 2023

Obituary

Killarney Kathryn Carroll Carr McReynolds, known to her friends as Kay, was called home to our Lord on March 14th, 2023. This sweet soul was born on April 14, 1944, in Salamanca, New York, to Henry and Elizabeth (Elsa) Carroll. She was raised in Little Valley, NY, where in 1964 she met Samuel Thomas Carr. They married in 1964 and settled down in southern California to begin their lives and family together. They were so proud of their daughters – Kasa Killarney, Karisa Kay, and April Joy. They were dedicated and loving parents and always kept family first.

Aside from being a dedicated mother and wife and keeping such a warm and welcoming home, Kay enjoyed collecting antiques and tried to be the first to arrive at the weekend swap meets! She enjoyed refurbishing her finds and interior decorating. She taught herself to sew and made beautiful clothes for her girls. She also enjoyed pastel art, ceramic painting, crocheting and writing beautiful poetry! In her late 20’s she began suffering from debilitating panic attacks and learned the art of self-hypnosis to neutralize the attacks. It empowered her to lean full force into every other challenge that would come her way. In her late 30’s she even tackled a fear of water she had always had and learned to swim! Oh how she enjoyed swimming every chance she had from then on! In 1980 she used her training in self-hypnosis to stop smoking, then never touched another cigarette again!

Kay was also a talented Cosmetologist and in the early 70’s, after a short time of working with some of the Hollywood elite’s, she began a traveling beauty salon and particularly enjoyed making the residents in the nursing homes feel pampered! She had a way of making everyone around her feel as though they were special! Her clients loved her, and she never forgot a single one of them because it was far more than just a job for her- she cared for each one of them.

She was always known for her uncanny ability to unintentionally do the silliest things! So silly that she could laugh at herself more than anyone else ever could! Her family had a long standing joke of “well there’s another one for your book”! We always agreed she should write all her ‘oofs’ down in a book for the world to chuckle at with her. That’s how many there were. She absolutely loved to laugh! Those who knew her best could see a bit of Lucy Ricardo and a touch of Edith Bunker in her. Which, while on the subject, we must mention her affinity for drawing the Lucy Ricardo silhouette face and fancy updo hair style. That was basically the only thing she could draw, and she did it well and often!

As mentioned above, Kay loved interior decorating, and that combined with her tendency towards doing things spur of the moment, led to her decision to do a decorative accent wall in the living room, with wallpaper – something she had no previous experience in doing. She went and bought beautiful shimmery wallpaper, featuring lots of trees and once again proved she could do whatever she set her mind to. She did a nearly perfect job! Perfect, aside from hanging it all upside down that is! Thank goodness it wasn’t necessarily obvious unless pointed out. So, the wallpaper remained as it was for many years and her secret was revealed only to those she wanted to give a good laugh to!

Another of her silly happenings was that once, while standing in the grocery checkout line, she was so engaged in a conversation with the cashier, that as her arms went up to emphasize something she was saying, she also managed to smack the person behind her RIGHT IN THE FACE! And years prior to that incident, while shopping she accidentally knocked over a huge display of fresh bananas. A big scene indeed! And one of her all-time favorite stories to tell, was about girls night out, in her youth. She and her friend were all dressed up and feeling pretty. They had gone to the ladies room and as they were making their way back to the table, she noticed she was capturing quite a bit of attention. She would soon learn it was actually the long trail of toilet paper dragging behind her from her petticoat that was grabbing all the attention!

Around 1979, Sam and Kay moved their family to Swink, Colorado. It reminded them of their small hometowns of Upstate New York. They built a home there and enjoyed raising their children there. Sam built up his successful professional interior/exterior painting business, while Kay continued her traveling salon business. They were very involved with the Swink Lions Club and their local church.

Kay was always very close with her mother, Elsa, and took care of her 24/7 during her final years, prior to Elsa losing her brave battle with ALS. For the next several years, Kay and her family were very involved with The Muscular Dystrophy Association, including hosting the local MDA Telethon Call Center.

She continued her education and became more and more enthusiastic about skin care and body treatments and was profoundly intrigued with the yet little celebrated arena of “active ingredients” used for professional grade skin care and anti-aging treatments. She truly was blazing her way through uncharted terrain at that time! She was about to truly find her career calling and go with full gusto! Killarney (Kay) opened one of Colorado’s first literal Day Spa’s, in downtown, La Junta, Colorado. Killarney’s Day Spa and Electrolysis Clinic evolved into a para-medical day spa. She won 20 plus community voted awards for her product line and quality professional services. She served her community and beyond through her widely recognized day spa a total of 20 years.

Her line of Killarney Skin Care Products would be sold in several states and overseas. One of her fondest endeavors was her creation of Tanfastic Spray Tan, that she had great success with early in the mainstream industry’s introduction phase of such products.

In 1999, Kay and Sam divorced. They were married 35 years. In 2001, their oldest daughter, Kasa, went to be with The Lord. It was a loss she did her best to accept, but with each passing year the pain only deepened.

In 2008 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her surgery, radiation and chemotherapy treatments were in Pueblo, Colorado, where she and her second husband, Steven McReynolds, would then relocate to. This wasn’t a time for her to back down yet! Nope, she began a new career in the midst of battling cancer. This phase of her life was frightening initially- as she shifted to educating other’s full time. She was never one to back away from a worthy challenge though, so of course she jumped right in. She fell in love with her teaching career and her students and they her! A perfect platform to share her love and passion for her life’s career, as well as her love for people.

In 2011 Kay and Steve relocated to Longmont, Colorado, where her daughter, Karisa, and soon, April, lived and were raising their children. She continued teaching a while longer and then eventually found herself in a constant battle with her diabetes, related ailments, and weakened immune system, post cancer. She loved her kids and grandkids so deeply and never went a day without checking on everyone’s well-being, no matter how poorly she may have been feeling and remained in constant weekly communication with her life-long best friend and cousin, Penney Case, who she loved with her whole heart.

Kay’s daughter’s April and Karisa loved her and looked after her daily, and until they are reunited, will desperately miss the level of love and care that can only come from their sweet, sweet momma. It goes without saying that everyone who ever met her will remember her ever present smile, humor and the twinkle in her eye. Literally, her eyes twinkled after she had cataract surgery and lens implant. And we could always get a giggle out of that fun fact- she would want you to also!

A day seldom passed that she didn’t say, “Steve is so good to me! He is such a good man!” They were married by Pastor Maynard Bowen, at Prairie Bible Chapel of La Junta. Nobody will miss her more than the man who was at her side for the past 22 years.

Killarney loved her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and longed to be in His presence and with those she dearly loved who had journeyed on before her. She always said, “I know you’ll grieve for me when I’m gone, but please don’t be sad for too long. Just know I’ll be having fun and waiting for you.” Well, that’s a big request, but we will do our best to honor it! Thank you for teaching us how to love deeply; persevere no matter the challenge; pray often and laugh every day!

Until we meet again – Killarney Kathryn Carroll-Carr-McReynolds – you will be deeply and dearly missed!

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