Kay Orner Was a Pro at Public Service

Civic duty became second nature for Kay Bogendorfer Orner, who liked to call herself a “professional volunteer.”

A native of Presque Isle, Maine, she came to California in the early 1930s and soon began to leave her mark on the Valley.

She was the first woman postmaster in Van Nuys, serving the community in which she lived from 1960 to 1972. In the 1950s, she served seven years on the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission, which conducts appeal hearings for civil service employees.

In 1957, she finished second behind James Corman in a bid to represent the mid-Valley area on the Los Angeles City Council.

She was known through many of her civic activities as Kay Bogendorfer, having been married to Paul A. Bogendorfer until his death in 1965. She later married Harold S. Orner, who died in 1986.

Her numerous civic affiliations included membership on the board of directors for Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys where she helped organize several women’s guilds. She was past president of the Van Nuys Woman’s Club, the San Fernando Valley Republican Women’s Club and the Chapter A.N. PEO Sisterhood.

She died in 1991 at the age of 81.