Kay Cote died peacefully in her sleep at St. Jude Hospital on Monday evening March 11, 2019, with her husband Dick at her side. She had struggled with heart valve issues for many years as a result of successful therapy for breast cancer in 1974.

Kay was born of Greek immigrants in Manchester New Hampshire; her father was from a small village high atop Mt. Olympus, and her mother from a town on Greece's west coast. Raised in a family of four children, like so many second-generation Greeks, they all graduated from college and had successful careers. Kay was one of the first 12 women to be admitted to St. Anselm's College in Manchester, where she received her B.S. in Nursing Science, and she went on to a long and successful career. It was at St. Anselm's that she met her husband of 66 years Richard P. (Dick) Cote, who, having returned from serving in the army in Japan, was also a student.

Shortly after their marriage, they struck out for California, first to the LA beach cities, then to Orange County. Fullerton was their home for nearly 60 years. They raised four children, Richard, Kathleen, Joseph and Lea, and helped raise 7 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, all of whom were their greatest happiness. Kay had friends all over the world, and was beloved by many.

Kay and Dick traveled the world together, and for many years could be found with an assortment of grandchildren traveling the country and Baja California in their motorhome, or visiting their children in New York, Portland, Miami, Huntington Beach and Dana Point. Kay was an avid gardener, and it was said she could get any flower to bloom. She was a member of the Chrysanthemum Society (where she won a number of awards for her flowers), as well as the Philharmonic Society and the Fullerton Civic Light Opera. Kay was a longtime and very active member of St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Anaheim.

The evening vigil (Trisagion) will be Thursday, March 14 at 7 PM, and the funeral service will be on Friday at 11 AM, both at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, 450 N. Dale St., Anaheim, CA 92801, (714) 827-0181. The service will be followed by lunch at the church, following which the burial will take place at Loma Vista Memorial Park, 701 E. Bastanchury Road, Fullerton, CA 92835. Flowers can be sent to the church.

Arrangements under the direction of Chapman Funeral Homes - Terry & Mary Harmon, Funeral Directors. Toll free (855) 628-0447.

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Obituary notice for Chapman Funeral Homes. Please visit www.chapmanfuneraldirectors.com .

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