A Perry native and longtime children’s and veterans’ advocate has died. Rosalene (Kay) Annette Corbus Zike, 93-years young, passed away at her Pacifica, CA, home, overlooking the ocean, with her daughters Carole and Susan near on November 16, 2020.
Kay, a Christmas Day 1926 baby born in Perry, the daughter of Chester and Pearl Corbus, graduated from Perry High School in 1945 and then graduated from Simpson College with a degree in elementary education. In returning to Perry in 1956, she helped hundreds of area children prepare for kindergarten, as director and teacher at Perry Pre-school and later as owner/director of Kay’s Pre-school. On the state level, Gov Robert Ray appointed her to his Task Force on Children in Jeopardy, and she served as president of Iowa’s Day Care Advisory Council and the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children.
in 1990, she joined the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in its regional offices in San Francisco and later Oakland, CA. She retired, just short of her 90th birthday, after 26 years of dedicated service to America’s veterans as an administrative assistant in loan adjudication, financial records, and public contact and as a director’s secretary. She received numerous awards during her career and was a part of a team honored for its success during the Veterans Education Advance Payment project.
Those left to cherish her memory are daughters Carole and son-in-law Roger Custer of Jefferson and Susan Zike of Aloha, OR; grandchildren Whitney Custer (Loren Brockhouse) of Urbandale and Chaska, MN, and Melissa Koch Wittman (Travis) of Billings, MT; and great-grandchildren, Maxwell Custer of Urbandale, and Maggie, Stella and Lyla Wittman of Billings; niece Claudia Hoskins (Frank) of Monroe; nephew Brad Morford (Michelle) of West Des Moines; special friend Doyce Pitsenbarger of Aloha; and many friends and colleagues.
A complete obituary is available at carrisfuneralhome.com.
Due to current COVID social gatherings restrictions, a memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at a later date. Memorials in honor of Kay may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, the First United Methodist Church in Perry or the Kay Zike Memorial c/o Carole Custer, 1115 McDuffie Drive, Jefferson, IA 50129.
