By Rebecca Goodman
Enquirer staff writer

UNION TWP. - Larry and Denise Lay died together Sunday doing what they loved most - riding their Honda Gold Wing motorcycle.

Mr. Lay was driving and Mrs. Lay was a passenger on the bike heading north on U.S. 127 in Casey County, Ky., when it collided with a van just before noon.

"The love of her life was the biking," said Lyle Taylor of Walton, Mrs. Lay's father. "She always thought of herself as being a princess, and that's what Larry treated her like. They were doing the thing they loved most.

"They also have a cruiser at Lake Cumberland. They boated all day Saturday and they were coming home (when the accident happened). She was seated up on her little throne there.

"They'd always talked about how they wanted to be together for eternity. They never wanted to split up."

The Lays - who were married for five years - will be buried together Friday.

Larry Paul Lay, 44, was a 25-year employee of General Electric Aircraft Engines in Evendale, a second-shift supervisor in the development and assembly department.

He was also a steward for the United Aerospace Workers Union Local 647, serving on the bargaining and benefits committees.

"Larry wasn't afraid to challenge management or the work force," Local 647 president Gary Jordan said. "One of the most significant things about Larry is that he truly cared about people. He had the respect of the people on the floor as far as the membership, but he had earned the respect of management as well.

"Larry helped negotiate numerous contracts with General Electric. Last year during national negotiations, he went to New York City to participate. He had quite a bit of ability. He was very progressive.

"He wasn't afraid of change. He wasn't afraid to help us to create PowerPoint pitches or to work in some of the realms of what technology had to offer to keep us in the current world."

A native of Pine Knot, Ky., Mr. Lay was 17 when his mother died. He was the oldest of her five children and assumed responsibility for his two sisters. He graduated from high school in Pine Knot, then came north to Cincinnati, where he worked in home remodeling with an uncle.

He soon got a job at GE, married and had two children.

That marriage eventually ended, but his former wife, Holly Gray - who lived only a couple of miles from the Lays - was still fond of her ex-husband.

"When Larry walked in a room, he didn't have to say a word and everybody knew he was there," she said. "His smile lit up everything and everybody. No matter how upset or hurt you were, if he came around he made it better."

Mr. Lay rode a Gold Wing, but he was also a member of Cincinnati Eastgate HOG - a Harley-owners group. Gray explained that normally Honda owners and Harley owners don't get on so well, but "that wasn't Larry. He mixed everyone together. That was really special. Not many people could do that."

In addition to his work at General Electric, Mr. Lay co-owned several apartment buildings in Amelia and was an owner of Sports Page Cafe in Mount Carmel.

Denise Lynn Taylor Lay, 33, studied medical assisting at the Bethesda School of Nursing after graduation from Amelia High School. She became a certified medical assistant and worked for Bliss Chiropractic.

She was a gregarious, fun-loving girl, according to her father. A diminutive woman (she told everyone she was 5-foot-1, but her father said she was no taller than 5 feet), she was "full of life and energy," he said.

She also loved children. When she fell in love with Mr. Lay, who already had two children, she decided to forgo children of her own to build a life with him.

"She was a stepmother to Larry's children (and) her best friends were having babies," her father said. "She was so bubbly and wanted to take care of all her friends' babies. She spent six weeks with her sister in Florida when her nephew was born, helping her sister be a new mommy." That was back in February.

"She knew she would do without children of her own (but) she thought her sister would have lots of children for her to take care of."

The Lays were a perfect team. Mrs. Lay gave up her job as a medical assistant to manage the apartment buildings. And they had similar personalities. "If there were ever soul mates this couple was," her father said. "The biking was one of their true loves - riding the motorcycle with all their friends. When you'd see her putting her jeans, boots and gear on, she smiled ear to ear."

The Lays were members of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association, Ohio Chapter Eastside Wing Riders.

Mr. Lay is survived by a daughter Casey D. Lay, 23, and a son, Chad T. Lay, 18, both of Union Township; two sisters, Tersia Marksberry and Gena Gregory, both of Union Township; and two brothers, Shawn and Shane Ball, both of Pine Knot.

In addition to her father, Mrs. Lay is survived by her mother and stepfather, Gail and Terry Bryant of Owensville; her stepmother, Deborah Taylor of Walton; a sister, Kim Nelson of Apopka, Fla.; a grandfather, Arnold Taylor of Verona; and a grandmother, Lillian Gosney of Withamsville.

Visitation is 4-8 p.m. today at E.C. Nurre Funeral Home, 177 W. Main St., Amelia. The funeral is 1 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Entombment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

Memorials: Ronald McDonald House of Greater Cincinnati, 350 Erkenbrecher Ave., Cincinnati 45229.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com