In Memoriam: Kay Ollech, BSN, RN

Kay Ollech, BSN, RN, the director of Clinical Operations at Community Blood Center (CBC) in Dayton, Ohio, died Aug. 11 after a battle with cancer. Ollech dedicated nearly four decades of her career to CBC, first joining the organization in 1983 to supervise apheresis. She would go on to supervise Special Collections, direct collection services, and, ultimately, serve as director of Clinical Operations.

Ollech’s colleagues remembered her as a caring mentor for new and early-career blood center employees and for the relationships that she built with donors, nominating several to the Fresenius Kabi Blood Donation Hall of Fame. They also recognized Ollech for her efforts to collect COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) during the pandemic – despite her high health risk – helping CBC ship 9,425 doses from more than 2,000 donors.

“Kay answered to a higher calling: always going above and beyond to help folks, making life better for them, lifting them up, protecting them, and making things a little better,” said Beryl Boggess, a former team leader at CBC. “She truly, truly cared about us. My heart will always be warmed when I think of her.”