Obituaries

Margaret Kay (Rotermund) Fick was filled with astonishment at the world, and shared that wonder
with those willing to pay attention. She raised monarchs every summer, hunting through milkweed
leaves with her grandchildren for the eggs that hatched into caterpillars. One year, she gave a
chrysalid to a friend who had suffered a terrible loss, offering hope in the form of a developing
butterfly.
A hummingbird, a sunset, a cardinal on a wintry perch: any of these could bring her running in from
another room to take notice. She was less appreciative of squirrels and rabbits, given their
impertinence with the crocus buds and sprouting asparagus she tended.
In addition to being astonished by the world, Kay also traveled it alongside her husband, ministering
to people in countries ranging from Kenya to Israel to Bolivia. She loved music, particularly Bach,
and played the guitar, the piano, and the violin, in addition to singing. One of her favorite memories
from childhood was singing “The Little Drummer Boy” with others in her high school on a local
television station in Missouri.
Kay was an elementary school teacher, and used her gifts of perception and patience to help
students in various contexts throughout her life. Through tutoring, she enabled young people to see
words on the page differently. Over a period of years, she taught a man in late middle age with
significant learning challenges to read. He brought another friend to be tutored by her as well, saying
he wanted to bless others as he had been blessed.
She is the mother of three children and two daughters-in-law, and grandmother to six. She was the
kind of mothering presence who thought up crafts to do with little ones and learned origami when
they found it interesting. She took the time to appreciate every Lego creation a child brought to her
attention. She also has two brothers, one brother-in-law, four sisters-in-law, and many nieces and
nephews, all beloved. She was predeceased by her husband, her parents, one brother, and one
brother-in-law. She was a longstanding member of Faith Lutheran Church in Geneva.
When Kay was told in October that she had metastatic cancer, she absorbed the news and then
looked up at the doctor from her hospital bed. “You just had to do a really hard thing,” she said to
him. “I hope you’re OK.” When, later, we remarked on the beauty of this, she didn’t acknowledge
that it was exceptional to focus on the feelings of the doctor instead of her own at such a time.
Instead, she said that the doctor seemed tender and burdened, so she wanted to share her concern
for him.
The family would like to thank her kind and thoughtful healthcare teams at Northwestern-Delnor
and Greenfields. We’re told people angled to work with her on a given day because of her lovely
spirit. We would also like to thank the home health and hospice teams who so graciously helped care
for Kay in her final days.
Kay would tell anyone who remarked on her many virtues that they were enabled by her lifelong
faith in Christ. Her family surrounded her as she passed away, singing “Silent Night,” her favorite
Christmas carol, as we realized she was leaving. We then read from Proverbs 31, words that
beautifully reflect her quiet grace and valor, even though she would insist they didn’t apply to her:
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Visitation will be held at Yurs Funeral Home in Geneva on Friday, December 15 from 4-8 PM. Her
funeral service will be held at Faith Lutheran Church in Geneva on Saturday, December 16 at 10:00
AM, with a reception immediately following at Eden on the River in St. Charles. Given her interest
in helping others and her keen practicality, Kay would have wanted support to go to those in need in
lieu of flowers. Donations may be made in her memory to ShelterBox USA.M

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