Lake Forest Obituary: Kay Waltman, 100

Martha Kay (Hicks) Waltman, a long time Lake Forest, Illinois resident, passed away July 19, 2023. Kay was preceded in death by her husband, Charles T. (Chub) Waltman, who died in 2006. Kay was born on February 22, 1923 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the daughter of William and Margaret (Roll) Hicks.

Kay grew up in Tulsa, where she graduated from high school. She then graduated from Gulf Park College in Mississippi, and later, the University of Illinois with a degree in Industrial Design. Shortly after her graduation in 1941, she was hired as an industrial designer by Chauncey E. Waltman of Chicago, her future father-in-law. When his son, Charles, returned from the war in Europe, where he had been a pilot, the two married in early 1947. They soon moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where they opened a design office with the focus of incorporating the emerging European post war design trends into their work. Their clients included Veedersburg business machines, Electrolux, and others. Their first son, Bill, was born in Stockholm.

In May 1948, the family returned to the Chicago area, where Kay’s husband, Chub, joined his father's firm, while Kay settled in as a fulltime mother. Their son, Terry, was born later in 1948 and daughter Maggie, in 1953. Both were born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

While house hunting with a friend in 1957, Kay discovered a coach house in Lake Forest, Illinois. It was architecturally interesting, so she and Chub took the plunge and purchased the coach house of Rathmore, part of the Ambrose Cramer estate on Stone Gate Road in Lake Forest. The left side of the building had stables for horses and the right side was a garage and machine shop for servicing vehicles. Servant’s quarters and a hay loft were on the second floor. After months of major renovations, the first floor had been transformed into one of the most inviting homes ever, with heated brick floors, beamed ceilings, a stone fire place, and multi-level terraces that completely surrounded the home. The project was truly a labor of love. Several shelter magazines such as House Beautiful and Better Homes & Gardens soon featured the home in their magazines.

Kay knew no limit to her artistic talents. She was an accomplished artist. Early on, Kay painted portraits, then landscapes and abstracts. In 2018, Kay, then 94 years old, was a featured artist at the Reinvent Galleries in Lake Forest with a retrospective display of her work. Kay was involved in interior design with projects from coast to coast as well as many in Lake Forest. Kay loved gardening. She won a Chicago Garden Club blue ribbon and participated in the Lake Forest Garden Club. Kay was also an avid tennis player - one of the best on the North Shore in the 1960’s.

Kay’s ancestry includes European fur traders and colonists such as William Bradford of Plymouth Colony. She has deep roots in the Cherokee Nation. Her third great grandfather, Charles Renatus Hicks was the first mixed blood chief of the Cherokee. Her second great grandfather, Elijah Hicks, led one of the wagon trains during the Trail of Tears in 1838, which led to the family settling in Tahlequah. Elijah’s wife, Margaret Ross was the sister of chief John Ross, making Chief Ross Kay’s third great uncle. Her grandfather, Edward D. Hicks, was a telephone pioneer who started one of the first telephone companies west of the Mississippi River, connecting Tahlequah with Fort Gibson and later, Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Kay is survived by her three children: William Waltman (Jeri) of Highland Village, TX, Terry Waltman, Hulbert, Oklahoma, and Maggie Waltman, Highland Park, Illinois. She has five grandchildren; Courtney Waltman, Paige Nobles (Steve), Will Ross, John Ross (Ningsih) and Mac Ross. She has three great grandchildren, Ashton Nobles, Athalia Ross and Bima Ross. Kay’s sister, Ruth Huffman, a long time Tulsa resident, died there on June 12, 2020.

Burial services will be private.

This obituary was provided by the Waltman family. The views expressed here are the author's own.