Kaye Howard Grounds, 85 of Greeley, passed away on Saturday, October 1, 2016 at the Garden Square of Greeley Assisted Living.

Kaye was born March 6th, 1931 in Craig, CO. to Herold and Thelma Howard. She attended school in Craig and graduate from Craig High School in 1948. She then attended nursing school for two years at the University of Denver. On August 6th, 1950, she married Sam Grounds of Maybell, Colorado. Sam and Kaye ranched for several years at the Sevens Ranch south-west of Maybell.

Tired of ranching, Kaye and her family moved to Greeley in 1959 where Kaye was a homemaker for her husband and three children. In 1967, Kaye returned to nursing school at Colorado State College (UNC) and graduated from the school of nursing in 1970.

She was a loving daughter, mother and grandmother. She was always there for her family. She helped care for her grandmother, her mother, her children and she helped raise two of her grandchildren.

Her grandparents were true Colorado pioneers who came to Colorado in the late 1880’s to homestead. In keeping with her grandparent’s spirit, Kaye was a true pioneer in the home health care field.

While working for the Health Department, Kaye was named to two three year terms on the associate’s board of the Colorado Association of Home Health Agencies. Kaye was also instrumental in helping to create the first home based Hospice care facility in Greeley and served as the Hospice’s nursing director.
She also served as president of the board of directors of Schaefer Rehabilitation Center in Greeley.

After working nine years as the supervisor of The Home Health Care Agency of the Weld County Health Department, Kaye founded the Rehabilitation and Visiting Nurse Association (RVNA) in 1979, RVNA was the first non-profit home health care agency in Weld County. In 1986, RVNA expanded to Larimer. RVNA continues to thrive and it is still the only non-profit agency in either county.

Kaye served as the president and CEO at RVNA until her retirement in 1996. During her time at RVNA Kaye received her Master of Science degree from UNC and spent one year working on an MBA. In addition, Kaye served on numerous boards and earned several awards. In 1988, she was recognized as Business Person of the Year by the Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce. In 1999, she was the recipient of Sigma Theta Tau’s Community Leadership Award. She was president of the Colorado Association of Home health Care Agencies. She was also appointed for two terms by Governor Richard Lamm on the State Medical Assistance and Service Advisory Council for Medicaid. She served two terms to the board of directors of the National Association of Home Health Agencies. As director, she served Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and North Dakota. In addition, she served on the board of directors for ARC, as well as numerous health care organizations.

Kaye is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Sam; and her daughter, Deborah. She is survived by her brother, Bill (Faye) Downs of Vallejo, CA; her two sons, Jim Grounds of Evans; Michael (Elizabeth) Grounds of Greeley; grandchildren, Melissa Grounds of Greeley; Terri (Scott) Bluhm and soon to be great granddaughter of Wellington, Jason Grounds of Fort Collins, Jarrod (Brittany) Grounds of Greeley, and Jordan (Karlee) Grounds and great grandson Gunner of Greeley.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at the Moser Funeral Service Chapel, 3501 S. 11th Avenue in Evans.

Memorial gifts may be made to Shaffer Rehabilitation, 2435 8th Avenue, Greeley, Colorado 80631.