Survivor to entrepreneur
Henry Kay

The father of Henry Kay, under the most adverse conditions, instilled in his young son optimism, a will to survive, and to meet any circumstance without bending.

Born in Ludz, Poland, young Kay was ten years old when the Germans occupied Poland. The next six years he and his father were moved from labor camps to ghetto to labor camp, literally "under the gun".

Post camps, the family reunited; his mother was found in Sweden, and off they went to Belgium. It was time for school so Henry went to University of Belgium to study literature. The Belgian family worked as furriers so he learned the business while going to school.

His mother's family had been in the US since 1930 so the Kays decided to migrate to be near family. They arrived Kazanowski's later changed to Kay. Here, in New York, Henry continued in the furrier business and his parents had a Ladies Wear business.

Tiring of the fur business, Henry decided to try his hand at sales and ended up with Arthur Murray Dance Studios. (Around this same time, Mr. Kay became Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Kay.) By 1962 the business was successful enough to buy Dale Studios which brought him to managing 25 dance studios.

Using his literature education, he opened an advertising agency and produced TV and radio shows. An entrepreneur at heart, the world of travel opened as he organized travel groups focusing on the Caribbean and on young people. He then opened a finance company to help them pay for the trips. "In the 60's and 70's I would have 500 to 600 people, and take over a hotel," said Kay.

Their parents moved to Miami Beach in 1972, and after ten years of visiting, the Kays bought a condo in 1982. In 1985 Henry's wife became ill so they sold the business and moved to Florida, residing in Maison Grande where he fell into the "condo business". He served on the Board of Maison Grande in many capacities from 1987 to 2001 when he moved to Winston Towers. He was very busy in Miami Beach, serving on the Planning and Zoning Board of the City of Miami Beach for six years. He was president of the Miami Beach Council of Condominiums. He had, for four years, a TV show called "Condo Living" where he brought attorneys, builders, roofers, and elevator people, to name a few, to present ideas, and take questions.

His move to Sunny Isles Beach has given him inroads to groups such as The Sunflower Society, the Sunny Isles Beach Democratic Club and the Sunny Isles Beach Citizens Coalition.

Recently he was chosen as one of two survivors of Nazi tyranny from the U.S. to go to Germany where they joined four Israeli survivors who were taken to meet with college students to tell their survivor stories. Kay said he chose not to tell the story but to instead tell the young people what they can do to be aware of their leaders and the politics of the country so that nothing like the Holocaust will happen again.

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