Wheaton College history professor served on city’s historic commission
Thomas O. Kay was a history professor at Wheaton College who taught a range of courses that covered areas including ancient Greece and Rome and the Renaissance.
Kay also took a strong interest in more recent history, serving on DuPage County’s Sesquicentennial Steering Committee in 1989 and was a member of Wheaton’s Historic Commission for 27 years.
“Professor Kay’s knowledge of history was encyclopedic, and his memory for names and dates was astounding,” said Cadmus Hicks, a former student. “Despite knowing so much more than his students, he did not just lecture, but he encouraged thoughtful discussion in his classes.”
Kay, 89, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease Sept. 23 at the Belmont Village assisted living facility in Carol Stream, said his wife of 63 years, Jan. He had been a Wheaton resident since 1959.
Born in Geneva, Kay grew up in Wheaton and was the son of Obed Kay, whose parents, Edna and Ira Kay, bought a 131-acre farm on the south side of Geneva Road on Wheaton’s northeast side in 1908.
Kay graduated from Wheaton Community High School and received a bachelor’s degree in history from Wheaton College in 1953. He got a master’s degree in medieval history from the University of Chicago in 1957 and a Ph.D. in medieval history from the U. of C. in 1974.
He taught briefly at Wartburg College in Iowa after getting his master’s before returning to Wheaton College, where he remained until his retirement in 2004 and for many years was chair of the history department..
“Students who took his classes in Russia, the Middle Ages or Western Civilization were not treated to fancy showmanship but received solid instruction about the politics, demography, religion and economic factors of whatever the subject,” said retired Wheaton College history professor Mark Noll.
Kay took a particular interest in building ties with Russia, and around the time the Iron Curtain fell, he took students on trips to the former Soviet Union.
Retired Wheaton College history professor Chuck Weber was a student and then a colleague of Kay’s, who he called “a demanding and fair teacher who expected his students to know both the narrative of a time period or subject as well as an analysis of the themes and issues involved.”
Weber said Kay was “not an ivory tower” academic, and he saw it as his role to contribute to his community. In addition to serving on DuPage County’s Bicentennial Steering Committee, he was an inaugural member of Wheaton’s Historic Commission in 1991 and remained active until 2018.
He was a forceful advocate for local historic preservation, speaking out against teardowns and urging greater funding of local history efforts.
Kay also was the inaugural editor of the DuPage County Historical Society’s annual journal, DuPage History, that began publishing in 1994.
Kay was a member of the DuPage County Housing Authority’s board, and served on the board of the Washington Street Mission in Springfield, a social services agency.
In addition to his wife, Kay is survived by a daughter, Catherine; two sons, Robert and John; a brother, Richard; a sister, Ann Bragg; and eight grandchildren.
Services have been held.