Kathleen Marie Kelly Pozzi Winters

Community volunteer leader contributed to health, education,  parks and recreation 

Kay Winters was a strong leader for local community organizations in northern Nevada,  helping found the Carson Tahoe Hospital and the Carson City Ski Program, among many  others. 

Kathleen “Kay” Marie Kelly was born on November 1, 1920, in Tacoma, Washington, to  Ruth Haslett and Lester Kelly. She was the eldest of the three Kelly children, Kathleen,  Robert and Patricia. Kathleen attended Tacoma schools and then entered the University  of Washington where she was affiliated with Chi Omega sorority. It was there she met  Archie Henry Pozzi, a young student from Carson City, Nev. They were married on  October 15, 1941, at the First Congregational Church in Everett, Washington, and  relocated immediately to Carson City, Nev.  

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed, and Archie Pozzi Jr. went to war,  joining the U.S. Navy. During the early years of World War II, the Pozzis became parents  to a son, Bruce, in 1942 and a daughter, Kathleen, in 1945. Wartime, however, tends to  destroy marriages and the Pozzi marriage suffered that fate.  

On December 29, 1948, Kathleen Kelly Pozzi married JohnD Winters at the First Christian  Church in Reno, Nev. The newlyweds were now parents to five children: JohnD’s three  daughters, ages 12, 9 and 6, and Kay’s two children, ages 6 and 3. Following a two-week  honeymoon in the Pacific Northwest, one that included all five children, the family made  their home at the Winters ranch on the western edge of Carson City, Nev.  

Carson City in the late 1940s was a town with a population under 5,000. There was no  hospital and only three physicians available to treat the population. Physician Richard  Petty had been enticed to return to Carson City after having served in the war with the  promise Carson City would improve its medical facilities. The local physicians along with  other civic minded families like the Winters set about to accomplish that. Judge Richard  L. Waters and his wife Ethel donated land for a hospital and the community worked to 

match a donation from the Max C. Fleischmann Foundation. In 1949 Carson Tahoe  Hospital opened its doors. It was only a ten-bed hospital, but it was a hospital. The cost  of this new hospital was $80,000. 

Kay was a community leader for a wide range of organizations. She helped establish the  Carson Tahoe Hospital Women’s Auxiliary and in 1953, served as its second president.  She became a founding member of the Carson City Desert Garden Club and served as  president. Her children were Girl Scouts and Bruce was a Boy Scout and Kay was an  active participant in those groups. She helped establish the Carson City Youth Ski  Program in the early 1950s in order that her children would have the opportunity to ski.  The Winters resided in Carson City until their youngest daughter graduated from high  school in 1963.  

They then moved to their Santa Maria ranch in Dayton, Nevada where Kay lived for the  next 59 years. In Dayton, Kay was a member of the Lyon County Park and Recreation  Committee for 12 years and was instrumental in helping establish the Dayton Park system 

which includes the “’triangle park” as you enter Dayton from Carson City, land for the Little  League Park and the Dayton State Park. As a couple she and JohnD donated the land  for a high school in Carson City (currently Carson Middle School) and land that is now the  JohnD Winters Centennial Park in east Carson City.  

From 1972 to 1976, she chaired the Lyon County Bicentennial Committee. She was a  member of the Lyon County Library Board and the Historical Society of Dayton Valley.

In 1987 the University of Nevada  for her contributions to education.  

In 1989, the University named her a Distinguished Nevadan and a board member emeritus after her 10-year tenure on the College of Arts and Science Advisory Committee.  

She was the Nevada Day Parade Grand Marshal in 2015 for the 150^th celebration of Nevada’s Statehood.  

She is listed in the Women of Diversity’s publication, Nevada Women’s Legacy – 150 Years of Excellence. 

Kathie Pozzi Gerber remembered her mother as a city girl turned rancher and always a “lady,”  always very caring and thoughtful.  She felt strongly about giving back to her community and when she  identified a need, Kay always found  the right people to get it done.  

This author was fortunate to know Kay Winters as the mother of my friends while I was  growing up, later as my mother’s friend and in the last 25 years as my friend. She was  known for clipping and sending newspaper articles about her friends and their children  along with personal notes to her vast legion of friends. Kay had more friends than any  one person could ever imagine. They ranged from young to old. She often gave me the  following advice, “Always have friends of all ages because if you don’t, old age can be  very lonely.” Kay was never lonely! 

Kay Winters lived an incredible life spanning 103.7 years. She was fortunate to be able  to live in her home on the Santa Maria Ranch in Dayton until shortly before her death on  June 26, 2024. She is interred in the Lone Mountain Cemetery next to her beloved JohnD,  husband of 59 years.

Researched and written by Marcia Cuccaro. Posted October 2024.