DELRAY BEACH — Catherine “Kay” S. Revelas, mother of 19-year Delray Beach resident Irene Revelas, died on Nov. 9 at Greenfields in Lancaster, New York. She was 91.
Mrs. Revelas was a proud Greek-American who expressed love of her heritage and culture through her extraordinary baking skills, mailing baked goods each December to friends, colleagues and family across the country.
The only child of Greek immigrants Glenn and Irene Calafates, Kay was born on March 29, 1931, in the historic Erie Barge Canal Village of Medina, New York, and graduated from Medina High School in 1954.
She married and had four children, eventually moving her family to nearby Lockport, New York.
Southeast Florida was always a part of Mrs. Revelas’ life. Her maternal grandmother, Olga Asprodites, lived in Medina with Kay and her parents in the summer and fall, and with her uncle John White, owner of White’s Candies in Surfside, during the winter and spring.
Mrs. Revelas’ annual Miami Beach family visits as a child were followed by annual spring break family visits to Surfside with her children.
In the 1970s, Mrs. Revelas became manager of the Royal Sweet Shoppe family restaurant, and next opened Sweet Stuff, an artisanal confection and gift store, both in downtown Lockport. In the 1980s, Kay returned to her hometown as the executive director of the Medina Chamber of Commerce. She started with a focus on Main Street, where her father’s Mayflower Restaurant had been located for decades.
Mrs. Revelas understood the importance of historic structures to the fabric of a downtown community. She successfully pursued one of the first New York Main Street Alliance grants to help owners improve their historic buildings. This work resulted in a 1984 Preservation League of New York State Main Street Revitalization Award to Medina for its commercial façade program. Mrs. Revelas received a citation from the New York state Assembly in 1994, recognizing her for the successful Medina Main Street program.
Mrs. Revelas’ next project was activation of the heritage tourism potential of Medina’s Erie Barge Canal Basin. Under her leadership, a canal task force was formed and grants were obtained to develop the canal basin, including a docking system, park area and an annual “Woods ‘N Wetlands Festival.”
On April 16, 1996, state Sen. George Maziarz issued a resolution paying tribute to Kay upon her retirement, “in recognition of her many years of community service and exemplary leadership.”
Although Mrs. Revelas was a busy volunteer for a variety of arts, culture and downtown development organizations, she found retirement didn’t suit her and, at age 65, she started a new career in Buffalo with Univera as a Medicare specialist. During her 10-year career at Univera, Kay discovered Delray Beach through a National Trust for Historic Preservation magazine article about the Sundy House restoration. As a result, Kay became a regular annual visitor to Delray Beach long into her retirement years.
Mrs. Revelas is survived by four children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Donations in her memory may be made to the nonprofit Delray Beach Preservation Trust, 455 NE Fifth Ave., Suite D-250, Delray Beach, FL 33483.
— Obituary submitted by the family
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