Kay Logan

Born in Lancaster, OH February 8, 1936 to Leon and Winifred Wolford, Kay’s love of music was nurtured early as she studied flute with Professor Donald McGinnis at Lancaster High School. She continued her studies at Ohio State University where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in 1958 and the University of Illinois in 1960 where she received a Master of Music and was a member of the orchestra and served as a faculty member.

Music Education, and in particular, Special Education Music, was always near and dear to her heart. She often said, “I didn’t teach music I used music to teach.” Known as an innovative, creative, and dynamic teacher, she excelled in using music to teach “the unteachable ones.” Her expertise was sought after by organizations throughout the United States, England, France, Germany, and South America. As a consultant and instructor in Special Education and Special Education Music, she implemented programs for people with Alzheimer’s, nursing home patients, and deinstitutionalized older adults. She also designed developmental expressive arts programs for language delayed preschool children and profoundly multihandicapped people of all ages. Her extensive lexicon of Special Education teaching methods and learning has been preserved in numerous professional journals and also in primary education textbooks created under the auspices of Silver Burdett Ginn. She was granted honorary awards and degrees from Penn State, Ohio State University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Collaboration with other musicians was a constant source of joy for Kay. Throughout her lifetime she performed with the Ohio State University (OSU) Concert Band, OSU Symphony, University of Illinois Orchestra, Wheeling Symphony, Chautauqua Student Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Community Band, and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra where she served as principal flutist for fifteen years.

Because of her love of collaborative music, she was known as creator and/or generous supporter of several Chamber Music groups and organizations including Chamber Music Connections at the University of Maryland, the Audubon String Quartet, the Logan Chamber Music Series at the Chautauqua Institution, and the national awardwinning “Music at Noon: The Logan Series” at Penn State Erie.

Kay was a staunch arts advocate and champion of educational programming and arts outreach. She was an integral part of any board, committee, or organization she joined including the Eastman School of Music Board of Governors, MENC National Advisory Committee, Advisory Committee for the Center for Educational Partnerships in Atlanta, Very Special Arts Board of Directors, Chamber Music America, American String Teachers Association, Chautauqua Institution, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Orchestra of St. Luke’s (NYC) Education Committee, Women’s Forum of Washington, Audience Research Project, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and countless others.

Nearest and dearest to her heart was her beloved Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY. Her happiest times were spent here each summer. She was a recipient of the Georges Barrere Scholarship and studied flute at the Chautauqua School of Music during her college years. “If I hadn’t had a full scholarship the second summer, I couldn’t have come,” Logan said. “Certainly, for people like me who had limited backgrounds and exposure before Chautauqua, Chautauqua was like, ‘Wow!’ Life begins here. You had the opportunity to experience so many art forms in so many different ways. Changed my life totally.” Always one to “pay it forward,” she more than “repaid” the gift of her scholarship by establishing the aforementioned Logan Chamber Music series, the David Effron Conducting Fellowship, the Chautauqua Artist Teacher Award for the School of Dance, the School of Art Greenham Ceramic Scholarship, and The Mischakoff/Taylor Concertmaster Chair Fund in 1994 through the Harry A. Logan, Jr. Foundation.

Kay was preceded in death by her parents; her brother Leon (Bud) Wolford, Jr.; her loving husband, Harry A. Logan, Jr.; and her former husband, George Hardesty. Kay is survived by a nephew Leon (Skip) C. Wolford and wife Tracy; niece Michele and husband Mark Brown; nine grand nephews and nieces: Bryce and Meredith Biesinger, Leon (Chip) and Alissa Wolford, Kevin and Morgan Thompson, Lara Wolford, and Mason and Aimee Brown, and ten great grand nieces and nephews: Trey, Ryan and Jack Wolford; Bentley, Beau, and Baker Biesinger; Chlo, Daisy and Addie Thompson and Larry Brown; stepson Thomas A. Logan, wife Julie and sons Ryland, Max, Gabriel and daughter Cassidy; and very close friends she thought of as family members Marty Merkley; Mary and Britt Jensen and daughters Elaine, Cecily and Elizabeth; Matthew and Julie Bratton and daughters Ayla and Ione; Anita Johnson; Mary Palmer and countless friends and colleagues who remain to cherish her memory.

Kay’s ashes will be interred on Saturday, June 25, 2015 at 11am at the Chautauqua Cemetery, in Chautauqua, NY next to her beloved brother Bud Wolford.

There will be a public memorial service on Sunday, August 14, 2016, at 2 pm in the Hall of Philosophy, at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY.

There will be an open house celebrating Kay on Sunday, September 25, 2016, from 2 to 4 pm in Alexandria, VA.