WAYNE COUNTY, PA — Former Wayne County Commissioner Wendell Kay, 70, passed away on Monday, June 30, announced Wayne County. 

Kay served on the Honesdale Borough Council from 1986 to 1990, on the Wayne County Board of Commissioners from 2008 to 2019 and as the Wayne County Solicitor from 2020 to the present.

He served the community in many other ways beside, including as chairman of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Pike, Wayne and Berks Counties from 2020 to 2024, on the Wayne Library Authority and the Wayne County Public Library Board until his death, as a court appointed custody and divorce master from 1990 to 2000, as the YMCA Board Chair from 1998 to 2004, as the finance chair at St. John's R.C. Church from 1988 to 2008, and as the Honesdale High School boys soccer coach from 2020 to 2022. 

Kay was born and raised in Niagara Falls, NY before moving to Honesdale in 1966. He graduated from Honesdale High School and attended East Stroudsburg State College, where he earned a BA in History in 1977, then Ohio Northern University, where he received his juris doctorate in 1980. 

"Wendell Kay has dedicated his life to public service and the people of not only Wayne County but the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States of America," read a certificate of congratulations from the Wayne County Commissioners, given two weeks before his death. 

"He had a long and influential career as an attorney, an elected official and a coach and was always proud of the way things operated here in Wayne County, especially Elections and Human Services," wrote Wayne County Chief Clerk Andrew Seder. 

"Wendell was a lot of things to a lot of people. His storytelling was what drew people in but his genuineness, his friendship and his sense of humor were what kept people coming back," Seder said.

Kay is survived by his wife Karen, his three children and his eight grandchildren.