"I feel like what little I can do to help others is very important. There are so many needs out there."

In her retirement, Kay Hart lives by that affirmation. She is involved with several philanthropic Artesia organizations, spends time visiting shut-in friends and bakes food for the blood drives and the Hospital Auxiliary bake sales.

Hart rejoined the Auxiliary after retiring and is presently membership chairman. Bake sales are held in the Pink Corner of Artesia General Hospital every third Thursday of the month and Hart is well-known for her "from scratch" brownies with fudge frosting.

She says she still loves to cook — "from the grocery shopping on up."

Hart also serves as treasurer for the Meals on Wheels program. In addition to 14 years as treasurer, she handled the bookkeeping until it was farmed out earlier this year.

She calls Meals on Wheels a very worthwhile service which is important to the community. Nutritious meals are delivered at noon Mondays through Fridays to people who cannot cook for themselves. The meals are prepared at the hospital for the approximately 50 people currently signed up for the service.

At least eight local churches take turns during the year providing drivers for the deliveries. "This organization exists solely on donations with no government help," Hart says. "Businesses and individuals keep it going." Memorial contributions are appreciated and the gifts are recognized with a card Hart sends to the family of the loved one and the donor.

Hart belongs to First Methodist Church, where she served as treasurer for six years, and is on one of the Bereavement committees. Members cook and serve a meal to families before or after funeral services.

Hart’s own family moved to this area in the early 1900s where they ranched five miles southwest of Hope, across the Penasco River. Mary Kathryn Teel is one of four children of George S. and Elna (Stem) Teel, including Inez Teel Crockett, George Olin Teel and LeRay Teel.

Her dad was one of the founders of People’s State Bank and a longtime board member. He passed away in 1950. Hart’s mother named "The Heritage Walkway" when her submission was chosen by the Junior Women’s Club. She died in 1979.

Hart remembers many good times at the ranch, "We used to get a lot more rain in the mountains and that river would come roaring down. My younger brother and I would run down to the edge of the river to watch the header. It was a pretty good-sized little river back then and it came past the dam.

"It was exciting and scary —we could hear it roaring as it traveled down the riverbed. We lived less than one-half mile away and could reach the bank in time to see the big rush of muddy water pushing all kinds of trash on its journey toward the Pecos River."

Hart attended school in Hope — graduated from Hope High School — then left the ranch for business college in Albuquerque and McMurry College in Abilene.

She began her business
career with Southwestern Public Service in Carlsbad, then spent 32 years — the majority of her working life — at Valley Federal Savings & Loan. Hart started as a teller and moved through all departments to hold the position of corporate senior vice president when she retired from Valley Federal in 1988.

"I realized that I wasn’t ready for retirement," Hart recalls. "It was such a drastic change for me. I had been serving the public for many, many years — clients that I dearly loved and enjoyed assisting with their business. It wasn’t all work to me and I missed the business world — missed the public."

It took her just seven months to again join the business world. She took a part-time position at First National Bank for nearly five years, "It was a very nice job and I dealt with many of the same customers I had at Valley Federal," Hart remembers.

In retirement, Hart says she keeps informed by following local and world news, and reading the Daily Press.

She likes mysteries, good westerns, poetry, music, and enjoys classic movies and beautiful sunsets. An occasional trip out of town "just for fun" is also on her calendar.

Hart relishes a lively card game with Artesia friends, or at the Hope Adult Center a couple of times a month. On the fifth Thursday of a month, she joins the Hope group for a potluck luncheon.

She has a special fondness for Hope, "There is still a big part of my heart in Hope. It’s still home to me."

"In spite of the problems and heartaches of life, there is so much for which to be thankful," says Hart. "Of course, family is at the top of my list. Living in Artesia has been a blessing. My children grew up in this house that we had built 45 years ago."

She will spend Labor Day in Ruidoso at an annual get-together with her family in the family cabin. Hart has four children — Kathy Hart Porter lives here in Artesia, Randy in Snyder, Texas, Ritchie in Milliken, Colo. and Kelly in Las Cruces — several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.