Kevin E. Cary

Kevin Earl Cary of Columbus, Ohio passed away suddenly at his residence on January 14, 2026 at the age of seventy.

Kevin was born on June 14, 1955 in Syracuse, New York to Earl W. Cary and Helen E. Cary. He is survived by his brother, Ron, of North Tonawanda, NY and his sister, Cheryl, of Syracuse, NY, in addition to nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, and sister-in-law.

He attended Ithaca College and SUNY at Binghamton where he received degrees in Music and Business. Moving from Syracuse to Columbus, Kevin became the Ohio State Grants Office Director for the Arts (“GOD”) in 1979 until his retirement in 2009.

It was during his years as Grants Office Director that he met and became personal friends with many local, state, and world personalities in the Arts: music, visual, and theatre.

He was proud to be one of the five founding members of the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus in 1990.

Kevin was an accomplished musician, playing piano, classical guitar, and troubadour harp, besides singing with the chorus.

It was in high school that his role as Felix in The Odd Couple pointed him in the direction of the musical and theatre arts.

Kevin will be remembered by his family especially for his “dry” sense of humor as in “Did he really mean what he just said, or is he fooling around with us again?”

Many of his friends and acquaintances became life-long relationships.

He was generous, forgiving, empathetic, and loyal.

Kevin was always appreciative of being able to travel around America and abroad to such countries as Nicaragua, Scotland, England, and Greece, which he described as one of the most beautiful places in the world.

A memorial will be planned in Columbus later in the Spring.