Kay Braverman

Kay Braverman

Iowa City

Kay Braverman, 80, died peacefully Monday, January 20, 2025, at University Hospital Downtown surrounded with love from her family.

Evelyn Kay Rogers was born April 16,1944, in Marengo, Ohio. She was the middle child of Clyde and Ruth (Weaver) Rogers. Kay graduated from Marengo High School and earned a Bachelor of Science in Music Education in 1966 from Bowling Green State University, after which she taught in Detroit. She then came to Iowa City “only for a couple of years” to earn her Master of Arts in Music Performance at the University of Iowa… until she met Charles Wendt over a bowl of potato salad at a music department party. They married in 1968, and later had her two proudest accomplishments: daughter Natasha and son Eric. Kay and Charles later divorced but remained lifelong friends. Through her second marriage to Burns Weston, Kay and her children gained more permanent family: Tim and Rebecca, extended family, and their children.

Kay taught piano to many Iowa City children before changing careers and becoming a Realtor in 1985. She loved helping people find their dream home, especially first-time homebuyers. Kay was especially proud of becoming a partner at Lepic Kroeger Realtors, and prior to retirement in 2017, was a founding member of Urban Acres Real Estate. Kay also served on the board of the Iowa Women’s Foundation and the Dean’s Advisory Board for the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Kay married Mace Braverman in 1998. They enjoyed traveling and eating great meals—which they did as long as they were able. They were able to see much of the world, including Tahiti, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Mexico, and made many trips to Italy over the years. They collected art on their travels—if they couldn’t fit it in their suitcase, they would still find a way to get it home. They spent a great deal of time in Amelia Island, Florida, where they had a second home for many years.

Kay always saw herself as an artist first, and enjoyed many passions over the years. The most recent of these was quilting. She made quilts for those she loved and we have many to remember her by. She also pursued needlepoint, photography, knitting and ceramics and was quite a talented cook. She also loved collecting things. Among her collections were birds on sticks, fancy cars (on regular rotation), all the quilting notions and fabrics you could imagine, books, pretty tableware, and more.

Kay is preceded in death by her parents, Clyde and Ruth Rogers, her husband, Mace, and her faithful dog Spike. She is survived by her daughter, Natasha Wendt of Iowa City, her son and daughter in law, Eric and Staci Cambridge Wendt of Philadelphia, her grandson and the light of her life, Henry Olson of Iowa City, her brothers, Gary (Mary Ann) Rogers of Wooster, Ohio, and Dane (Cheryl) Rogers of Marion, Ohio, and Mace’s children and grandchildren, former stepchildren Tim Weston of Boulder, Colorado, and Rebecca Weston (Eduardo Capulong) of New York City, several nieces and nephews, and close family friend Bev Mrstik, among many others who loved her.

Services will be held on Sunday, February 23, 2025 at Agudas Achim Congregation. Burial will be at Agudas Achim Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Kay’s memory to United Action for Youth or Friends of the Animal Center Foundation, both in Iowa City.

Online condolences at www.lensingfuneral.com.