Obituary of Kay Cambridge

Sandra “Kay” Cambridge, age 82 lifetime resident of this area died Thursday, March 26, 2026, at the Bird House – Hospice Home of Johnson County.

Memorial services will be held at 11am Thursday, April 2, 2026, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City where at time of visitation will be held from 9am until services Thursday at the funeral home.  Burial will be at Oakland Cemetery in Solon. In lieu of flowers memorials can be made in her memory to Doctors Without Borders or Safe Haven Animal Clinic of Iowa County. To share a thought memory or condolence please visit Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service website @ www.gayandciha.com.

Sandra Kay Conner was born August 30, 1943, in Iowa City, Iowa the daughter of Lawrence and Evelyn (Spargrove) Conner. The family farmed south of Solon, Kay attended Big Grove Country School in Newport Township through the sixth grade. Then transferred to Solon Schools where she graduated from. Kay married Harold Carter in September of 1963, later divorcing.  She spent ten years in Des Moines working and raising her family, before returning to Iowa City in 1975.  Here she spent over 26 years working at the Veterans Administration Hospital as a nursing assistant, retiring in 2005.  She married Raymond E. Cambridge June 18, 1977, in Coralville.  Kay enjoyed and felt the calling to volunteer with the developmentally challenged for nearly 25 years.

Her family includes her daughter, Carrie Coburn (Tom); step-children, Carl Cambridge (Judy), Tina Swartzendruber (Darwin), and Jim Cambridge (Linda); grandchildren, Nicole Cambridge (Matt), Shawn Cambridge (Angie), Aaron Swartzendruber (Amanda), Hannah Meyers (Jeremy), Kayla Tadlock (Colin), Joshua Cambridge, Jacob Cambridge (Kelly); six great-grandchildren; Kays siblings, Kathleen Mycko, Larry Conner, Deborah Conner, Maureen Conner (Bob Nelson),Michael Conner and Rosemarie Conner (Clint Rarick); and Kay’s lifelong friend, Beverly Whetstine.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Ray; granddaughter, Molly Jo Bauwens; sister, Colleen Lenz and special friend, Lula  Alcala.