Kay Azar, a beloved tennis coach and teacher in Audubon, has died at the age of 80
Kay Ann Azar, co-founder of the South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association and beloved tennis coach at Audubon Junior-Senior High School, died May 7 after suffering a stroke. She was 80 years old.
Last September, Audubon High officially renamed the tennis courts in Azar's honor by installing a permanent sign that reads "Kay Azar Tennis Courts".
Azar taught physical education and health for 43 years at Audubon and coached tennis for nearly four decades. She led the team to 385 wins, including three South Jersey titles (1980, 1981 and 1994) and a state runner-up in 1981.
With the exception of her freshman season, Azar has led the Green Wave to wins in every season during her time with the team.
Azar co-founded the South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association, developed the bylaws and chaired the scholarship committee.
Azar was very highly regarded in the South Jersey tennis community.
"Kay was a great friend, mentor and role model to me during the years we coached tennis together in the Colonial Conference", Haddonfield tennis coach Jeff Holman said in a statement on the Schetter Funeral Home website.
I will always remember and appreciate her kind words to me over the years, her encouragement and support as I pursued a coaching career, her warmth and sensitivity, her enlightened guidance and her concern for all the players and coaches in South Jersey".
"It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to be associated with an exemplary professional like Kay, and I strive tirelessly to achieve the standards of sportsmanship and overall excellence that Kay embodied. Kay was unrivaled in class, dignity and integrity".
In the classroom, Azar helped launch the school's adaptive physical education program for students with physical and developmental disabilities. She taught the elementary class and continued with the program until her retirement.
Off the court, Azar has had even more success through her volunteer work. For 35 years, she organized parties and dances for seniors every spring at the high school and every Christmas at Audubon Towers. She also hosted senior citizen luncheons at the high school for two decades.
According to her family, Azar loved gardening, laughing, dancing with her students, hugging and loving her family and friends.
Kathy and Jack Kinnear, close friends and former Audubon colleagues, spoke at Azar's funeral on Monday.
"Kay would stop her world if her children, grandchildren or friends needed her. She was dedicated to physical activity and always made new friends. She reminded us that laughter is the key to a good day", says Kathy Keener.
Jack Kinnear added: "Kay was the glue that held our faculty together. Above all, she was a teacher, not only in the classroom, but in the way she lived her life".
Azar remained close to many of her former players, including Katie Craig, who also spoke at Monday's funeral.
"Mrs. Azar had us dancing at practices and games before we got to work", Craig says. "Nothing was ever difficult for her. ... She was our second mom. We got better just by knowing her".
Azar was a 1971 graduate of East Stroudsburg University.
She married the late George Azar in 1963. She is survived by daughter and son-in-law Robin and Steven Iannarelli, son and daughter-in-law Todd and Heidi Azar, six grandchildren, Andrew, Zach, Ryan, Jake, Kyle and Hannah, and brother Bob Forrest.