Final Salute

William Howard Kay, Jr. (“Bill”)

William Howard Kay, Jr., known to all as Bill, was born on January 16, 1937, in Washington, DC, and passed away peacefully with his family by his side on December 20, 2025, in Swansboro, North Carolina, the coastal town he dearly loved. He was 88 years old.

Bill grew up in a military family, moving throughout the country until his Marine father retired in North Carolina. Bill was 15 then and awed by the beauty and variety of boats in the small fishing village of Swansboro where he met another beauty – his future wife, Nettie Jean Lisk.

Bill graduated from Swansboro High School with the Class of 1955 and went on to Clemson University, where he earned a degree in Civil Engineering. After marrying Nettie Jean, he joined the United States Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps, the Seabees. During their Navy years, Bill and Nettie Jean traveled around the world and welcomed two daughters, Kim and Lisa. They eventually settled in Virginia where they welcomed their sons-in-law (Brian, Frank) and five grandchildren through the years: Brandon, Trent, Kerri, Mitchell, and Jamie.

Bill was immensely proud of his family and he and Nettie Jean considered it a tremendous blessing to have both daughters and their families living within minutes of them in Virginia and having the entire family together for all holidays and family birthdays. They delighted in attending all their grandchildren’s sporting events, school activities, scouting projects, graduations, and family gatherings. Bill’s workshop became a special place where he shared woodworking skills, created treasured projects with each grandchild, and served his famous “shop pretzels.”

Bill was also grateful for his distinguished military career that spanned more than two decades and culminated in his retirement at the rank of Commander. His Navy service was defined by leadership, responsibility, and exceptional accomplishment. His early assignments included overseeing construction projects for advanced weapons training facilities. He then supervised Seabees responsible for facilities maintenance at Midway Island. He later served at the New London Submarine Base in Groton, CT where his prior construction experience again proved invaluable.

Bill was then assigned to Vietnam, where he served as Resident Officer in Charge of constructing the Army’s largest base in Vietnam at Long Binh. Following Vietnam, he was stationed at Pearl Harbor for three years and subsequently attended the Navy’s Monterey Postgraduate School, earning a Master’s Degree in Management.

Another chapter of Bill’s military career came with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 71. As Executive Officer, and later Commanding Officer, Bill led the Battalion during its deployment to Antarctica, where he served as Officer in Charge of constructing the South Pole Station for the National Science Foundation. Originally planned as a three-year project, the work progressed so efficiently that it was essentially completed in two years. The Battalion’s achievement earned recognition as the top Seabee unit in the Atlantic Fleet and subsequently the top Seabee Battalion in the U.S. Navy.

After retiring from the Navy in 1982, Bill transitioned to work in the civilian sector, eventually retiring from management in the Engineering and Maintenance Department at Dulles International Airport in 2004.

Swansboro remained deeply meaningful throughout Bill’s life. He and Nettie Jean returned often, enjoying time with lifelong friends, class reunions, and summers filled with fun with their daughters and grandchildren. One of Bill’s greatest joys was taking family and friends out on his skiff, Point A, for fishing, clamming, dolphin watching, trips to Shark Tooth Island, beachcombing, and letting the dogs run free. In one of his final and quite meaningful projects, Bill built detailed replica models of Point A for each of his daughters and grandchildren-a lasting symbol of shared adventures and enduring love.

Beginning in 2006, Bill combined his lifelong interests in art, woodworking, model airplanes, and boating by creating highly detailed scale models of local Swansboro fishing boats he remembered from his youth. These models became treasured “portraits” honoring mariners and vessels long gone. Bill went on to create dozens of these works for others, often producing multiple identical models so their family members could each have one. In every case, Bill kept one for himself, a testament to his pride in his craft and his desire to preserve maritime history.

Bill lived a truly blessed life-defined by service to his country, professional excellence, creativity, adventure, and above all, deep devotion to God and his family. He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by all who had the privilege of knowing him.

Bill was preceded in death by his father, William Howard Kay, Sr.; his mother, Helen Check Kay; and his brother, Curtis Lee Kay.

He is survived by his devoted wife, Nettie Jean Lisk Kay; his daughters, Kimberly “Kim” Kay Lawlor (Brian) of Centreville, Virginia, and Lisa Kay Curtin (Frank) of Swansboro, North Carolina; his beloved grandchildren: Brandon Lawlor, Trent Lawlor, Kerri Lawlor Gruber (Joe), Mitchell Curtin, and Jamie Curtin; and many close relatives and dear friends.

A private celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in his honor may be made to Inova Schar Cancer Institute at join.inova.org/cancerservices and/or Gentiva Hospice at app.etapestry.com. Online condolences can be made at jonesfh.org.
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