Merelyn Kaye Passes, Earned N-P’s First Lifetime Achievement Award

beautifully decorated the historic home with antique furniture and paintings and meticulously maintained the flower and herb gardens. She had a sense for beauty and style, both in her fashion and her surroundings. In particular, her table settings at family meals rivaled those of Martha Stewart, with fresh flowers matching her china and tablecloths.

In 1970 she obtained her real estate license and sold much of Falls Church with her husband Art and daughter Karin. She was a pillar of the Falls Church community for nearly 60 years through her work in the Village Preservation and Improvement Society, the Victorian Society of Falls Church, and Historic Falls Church Inc.

Merelyn had a special place in her heart for horses. She spent many years watching her daughter Karin ing people together with her beautifully turned-out tailgates. She was always wearing one of her beautiful hats to match her outfits!

Services will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church 3022 Woodlawn Avenue, Falls Church at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 11 with a celebration of life to immediately follow at the Hilton Garden Inn, 706 West Broad Street, Falls Church.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to St. Judes Childrens Hospital.

In the News-Press article announcing her as recipient of the FCNP Lifetime Achievement award, the News-Press’ Nicholas Benton recalled how Kaye advertised in the first-ever edition of the News-Press in March 1991, and remained in the paper every week since.

Benton recalled, “In fact, it was her commitment to spend extra for full color in her ad that became the centerfold for the paper in 1993 that Newshad never done color up to that point, but her decision to add according to how papers are printed, and so for the first time, the NewsPress was adorned with a front-page news photo (not an earth-changing event, just kids diving into a local swimming pool). It suddenly made the paper look well-to-do, as from that day forward the constant refrain about whether the paper would survive suddenly disappeared from local discourse.

“Merelyn Kaye’s long-standing relationship with the News-Press has always been about business, about a mutually-beneficial and respectful business relationship, which in the business world is as it should be. A mutual admiration society, perhaps.”

Also reported at that time, she was also, as Charlie Moore and Keith Thurston of the Historic Falls Church’s board, attested, “a stalwart supporter of the Falls Church community fabric with her participation and quiet financial support of many organizations.”

They wrote, “Beside her long term commitment to the Village Preservation and Improvement

Church. She was also the key sponsor for the launch of the New Year’s Eve Watch Night in Falls Church for over a decade, and without her support in its early years, “the annual celebration could not have occurred,”.

Working quietly and often behind the scenes, she had been on the board of directors of

Moore said, “Merelyn is the consummate real estate professional working for the community’s good. She has always provided her expertise and her real estate services on a pro bono basis for preservation efforts.”

“It has been clear that she has been among a small group of influential community lead