Thea Stay is one of only four women enshrined in the Montevideo Athletic Hall of Fame. She earned her place for being a standout basketball player in the 1930s, when as a senior she averaged 24.6 points per game, scored 20 points or more in every game and ended up with more points for the season than her opponents did combined.
"She was pretty dominant," said Bruce Olson, sports editor for the Montevideo American-News.
When she returned to Montevideo High School last year to watch a girls' basketball game, it was the first women's basketball game she had seen since graduating in 1935. She got to see the plaque hanging on the school wall recognizing her induction into the Hall of Fame in 1985. Stay also got to talk with the seniors, "who all came over and asked her about her career," said her son Doug of Fulton, N.Y.
Stay died from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease June 11 at her home in Minneapolis. She was 92.
While some in Montevideo remember Stay for her performance on the hardwood, others remember her as the friendly hostess at Jax Cafe in northeast Minneapolis. Stay had been working as a teacher at one-room schools in the Clara City, Minn., area for four years after college, but later she and her husband, Bernard Sr., moved to the Twin Cities. Needing work, Stay took a job at Jax as a server. She was promoted to hostess and manager, greeting patrons, scheduling employees, booking parties and training new servers.
"She was the epitome of hospitality," said Bill Kozlak, whose son now runs the family-owned restaurant, at 1928 University Av. NE.
Customers appreciated her engaging smile and the time she took to recommend menu items and to listen to what they had to say.
"She knew how to treat a person," said retired manager-owner Jack Kozlak. "She thanked them graciously when they left, and she knew how to handle complaints deftly."
Stay started at Jax in 1951 and retired in 1985, Jack Kozlak said.
Stay grew up playing baseball and softball with her three brothers and two sisters in Watson, Minn. She was drafted for the Montevideo basketball team because she was tall, 5 feet 9. She had never played basketball before high school, but became a "one-woman scoring machine," her son said. Stay helped Montevideo win three district championships and her accomplishments are recorded in the book "Daughters of the Game: The First Era of Minnesota Girls High School Basketball 1891-1942."
Stay was "probably the biggest fan" of the Minnesota Twins, Gophers and Vikings, her son said. When watching the Vikings in person or on TV, she usually wore her purple sweatshirt, he said.
She was a longtime member of Zion Lutheran Church at 26th and Lyndale Avenues N. in Minneapolis.
In addition to her son Doug, she is survived by another son, Bernard Jr. of Crystal; a brother, Don Sletkolen of Tampa, Fla., eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services have been held.
