Kay S. Long

Mrs. Long was born April 22, 1942, in Wadsworth, Ohio to Miriam J. Bowersock and Lt. Col. Donald Smith (USAF), and was raised in Barberton, Ohio, where she attended public schools. She was preceded in death by her parents and her grandparents, Cloy and Elizabeth Bowersock, whose Barberton home she shared, and her cherished husband David Long.

Mrs. Long was a graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she received her bachelor’s degree in education in 1965. Following graduation she taught French and Spanish in Norton (Ohio) High School. In 1967, she married David M. Long, and in 1968 moved to Connecticut where she taught languages in Silas Deane Junior High School. In 1974, she received her master’s degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Hartford where, in 1979, she also received her Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in administration and supervision. She also completed doctoral studies in education management at the University of Bridgeport.

Mrs. Long worked as a counselor at Glastonbury High School for 13 years before joining the Wethersfield school system in 1989 as director of guidance and counseling services. She continued counseling students at Wethersfield High School until her retirement in 2012. During this time she also was an adjunct faculty member at St. Joseph College and was a certified Americans with Disabilities Act mediator and a National Certified Counselor.

Over the span of her many years in education, Mrs. Long affected the lives of many students. Former students, often many years after graduating, would approach her on the street or in a store and tell her of something she had said or done that had made a lasting impression on their lives. She was known for her glib humor and sparkling personality, as well as her deep compassion for people, particularly the troubled and downtrodden whom she helped in countless ways both inside and outside school. She always spoke her mind and had a resolve for honesty and fairness that engendered abiding respect among her colleagues and friends, yet her true essence was the kindness and unmeasured love she gave to others.

Mrs. Long was former president of both the Connecticut Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, and the Connecticut Association for Counseling Development. She was a member of Phi Delta Kappa, The American Counseling Association, American School Counselor Association, and the Connecticut School Counselor Association. She also was a long-time member of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, and was a member of the board of directors of Cedar Hill Cemetery. Mrs. Long volunteered for many years at St. Francis Hospital, studied for eleven years at the New England School of Metaphysics, and was an antique dealer and art collector.

A time of visitation will be held Friday, December 13, 2024 from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. at the D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd., Wethersfield, followed by a Celebration of Life Service at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford. Contributions in her memory can be made to the Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation. To share a memory, please visit www.desopofuneralchapel.com