A native of Grand Island, Kay has been associated with the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer since 1988. She is the Director of Interpretive Resources and oversees the interpretive and educational programs. She speaks and presents at regional and national conferences and often presents programs locally for the museum. She has actively worked to train living historians nationally and locally. Her areas of interest include genealogy, historic foodways, period clothing reproduction, and the study of material culture. She is a member of the National Association for Interpretation (NAI), the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM) and is the regional representative for the Mountain Plains region of ALHFAM, the Midwestern Open Air Museum Coordinating Council (MOMCC), the Nebraska State Historical Society, The Hall County Historical Society, as well as numerous genealogical societies.