Disciples Divinity House

Katherine A. Dey was a lifelong member of the Disciples of Christ in part because her grandmother, who raised her, had seen the need for a congregation in northern Virginia and, in 1913, co-founded what would become the Wilson Boulevard Christian Church in Arlington. Katherine became one of the first two women elders of that congregation and the first female board chair in the Capital Area region.

During her lifetime, Katherine Dey also established two scholarships at the Disciples Divinity House: the M. Elizabeth Dey Scholarship in honor of her grandmother, and the Drum and Tenant Scholarship in honor of dear friends. She died in October 2017, at age 96. After a final gift was received this fall, her bequest of $465,601.88, had increased the total endowment for the Dey Scholarship to $365,576, and for the Drum and Tenant Scholarship to $299,616.

Like her grandmother, and also like her friends Florence Drum and Flo’s mother, Eleanor Tenant, Katherine Dey was a doer in the church and in life. She lived modestly in a two-bedroom home across from the public library in Arlington, Virginia. But, to use a phrase from the parable in Luke 12, she was rich toward God and others.

She knew what dedication and hard work meant. During World War II, she had moved to Florida to serve as a “Wendy the Welder”—that is, welding parts of ships and planes before “Rosie the Riveter” could even begin. During her 32-year career with the National Security Agency, she drove a car pool for the long daily commute to Fort Meade, Maryland. After retirement, she volunteered full-time for the local Red Cross and supported the humane society and her congregation, First Christian Church of Falls Church, Virginia.

Her generous estate gift was preceded by great generosity and attention during her lifetime. She built the scholarships through annual gifts, beginning in 1979. She corresponded with successive deans at DDH and, after the scholarships were first awarded (in 1993 and 1995), with their recipients.

“Dear Dean Culp,” she wrote in 1995. “To start off with, please call me Katherine. My grandmother, M. Elizabeth Dey (which is pronounced DIE) and I always refer to her as Mom, was born on December 17, 1876, the 4th of 10 children, on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Being 4th in line she quickly learned how to care for others.”

She continued, “Mom died in July 1968 at 91½ years old and because of her life, her concern for others, her religious convictions and insight into human nature and what she meant to me I felt something should be done to mark this. … In 1979, I saw the opportunity to establish a memorial to Mom in a way I thought best reflected her impact upon the church and humanity in general. Thus, the establishment of the M. Elizabeth Dey Fund.”

DDH alumnus Ray Schultz had been the minister at Wilson Boulevard since 1966. His pastorate was important to Ms. Dey, as well as to Ms. Drum, who had served on the pulpit committee that called him. He introduced Katherine Dey to DDH, and embodied its spirit.

The first recipient of the Dey Scholarship was Stephanie McLemore, who has now served for many years as the chaplain of the University of Lynchburg. Danielle Cox, one of Stephanie’s students who is now a senior minister in Avon, Indiana, became a recipient of the Drum and Tenant Scholarship. Perhaps most gratifyingly, Lee Hull Moses, another Dey Scholarship recipient, became one of Katherine’s own ministers. (Lee is now chief of staff in the Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.)

“Wow! You sent us a winner!!,” Katherine wrote on September 19, 2004. “Rev. Lee preached today and I think she went over great…. And do you know what—it’s an irony—or whatever you want to call it—but today would have been Florence’s (Drum) 80th birthday!! Wow—if that’s not something—!!!!”

What an extraordinary gift and legacy Katherine Dey has passed on to next generations of ministers and leaders from her grandmother, her church, her dear friends, and through the accumulation of her steadfast “doing,” generosity, and faithful attention. That is something. Indeed.