Vivian Bernice (Whitcomb) Kinsey

Vivian Bernice Kinsey, 83, of Oakleaf Village in Lexington South Carolina died in her sleep Monday, 26 May 2014. She had been ill for an extended time. Mrs. Kinsey was born on November 10, 1930 in Beatrice, Nebraska. Vivian was the first child of Albion Carlyle Whitcomb and Marie Verna (Burck) Whitcomb. Like others of the Great Depression era, Vivian learned to survive in a harsh world. Her first 10 years would see three siblings born, one die, and move 6 times across Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. Vivian did most of her growing up in southeast Kansas, generally near Independence where her maternal family lived. She attended various schools, as her dad found work in different settings around Independence. This setting among hard working honest family, just a generation or two from arriving from their Swiss and German roots formed not just the memories, but the very character that she passed to her children, and grandchildren. In was in these settings that she recalled younger sister Thelma dying from respiratory failure during the blowing dirt storms of the depression, her little sister Kathy swinging by the seat of her overalls from the teeth of a horse which was after the apple with which she bribed him, of dressing her much younger brother up as a doll-baby, and of making window curtains and clothes from feed sacks. For her children and grandchildren she recalled stories of her Uncle Rudy's dog biting to protect her brother Carl from one of her ornery Whitcomb uncles as well as other family memories. During her final years of school, she attended Fredonia High School in Fredonia Kansas. One of her favorite stories was about hoarding her lunch money to buy gifts for the little brother upon whom she doted. She was so very proud when little brother Carl became the first family member to go to college, and eventually earn his PhD and became a professor. During her final years of high school Vivian allowed younger sister Kathy to talk her into riding some character's horse in the Toronto Kansas parade, as part of a bribe in which the young man offered to haul Kathy's horse to the parade. That young man would become Vivian's future husband of over 53 years, John Kinsey. Vivian graduated from Fredonia High School, in May 1949. She attended a number of class reunions her later years. Vivian married John Martin Kinsey on 5 June, 1949 at the age of 18, at her parents' farm near Fredonia Kansas. She later remarked that they began their marriage with just $5, after paying the pastor. Vivian's one request was that they never live on a farm the rest of their lives. John honored that request, for the first 4 years. They lived in Toronto Kansas, near the family gas station, and trucking service. Eventually, John's passion for horses and ranching got in the way. Vivian and John raised their kids on the Kinsey Ranch outside Toronto Kansas from 1954 until they moved to Rolla Kansas in 1974. There Vivian taught her daughter to sew and cook, and her son to 'buck' hay, kill snakes, and wash dishes. The family's meager income in those early years meant the family worked big gardens, with lots of hoeing, skinning rabbits and squirrels and plucking chickens. Most importantly, Vivian left a legacy of character to her children. Accompanying John to New Mexico to buy an AQHA broodmare, they crossed through Monarch Pass during a blizzard. There wasn't enough traction on the snow covered road for the car to pull the loaded trailer up over the pass, so Vivian led the mare through the snow storm as John drove the car with chains wired onto the back wheels. The slippery climb over the pass was an event she never let John forget it. As the kids got into high school, Vivian rode her speedy little roan Hancock mare on weekend trail rides with the family. Daughter Janice recalls her mother spending hours redesigning and making the pattern for her wedding dress some 42 some years ago. There were3 30 some tiny little buttons that she covered with white satin to be sewn down the back of that dress. Never once did she complain about the hours or how difficult it was. Mama's kids were her joy. Son Mike recalls his mom making a corduroy jacket for his 8th grade graduation. Hidden inside where the tiny hand stitching held the sleeves to the jacket body were the tiny blood stains from his mama's fingers. Mike also recalls the evening he gently held his mother's head in an arm lock as they joked about why he washed his hands in the kitchen sink, just as a pressure cooker on the stove exploded. The playful hug protected them both from the scalding vegetables and shrapnel that instantly transformed the tidy kitchen into a near fatal disaster area. Vivian worked at Rogers Grocery in Toronto Kansas beginning about 1965, and then about 1968 began as a lab technician at the Fredonia Hospital. After the kids were gone John and Vivian sold the ranch at Toronto in 1974, and moved first to Rolla Kansas then to Bucklin Kansas in 1978, where John was the Kansas Highway Maintenance Foreman. John retired from the Kansas Highway in 1987 and they moved to a farm at Batesburg South Carolina to be near their first three grandchildren to which Vivian and John were so devoted. Vivian's fierce determination to provide security for her family sometimes belied her loving nature, her sense of humor and her devotion to her faith. Vivian is survived her children, Janice Marie (Kinsey) Mixon with hubby Ray of Cayce, SC; and John "Mike" Kinsey with wife Jenny of Belton, SC; grandchildren, Rhonda and Rick Burgess of Gray Court, SC; Kevin and Kem Mixon of Athens, GA; Kristin and Jamie Saleeby of Charleston, SC; Jon and Kiley Kinsey of Las Vegas, NV; and Jennifer Kinsey of Clemson, SC; great-grandchildren, which were Vivian's pride, are Reed Burgess; Rylan Mixon; Lawson Burgess; and Fletcher Saleeby; siblings, Katherine Christina Hooper of Powell, Wyoming; Carl Ervin Whitcomb and wife LaJean of Stillwater, Oklahoma; niece, SanDee Oliver Wake; and nephews, Andy and Benjamin Whitcomb. Vivian was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, John Martin Kinsey, d. 2002; daughter Patricia Ann Kinsey, d 1953; great-granddaughter, Karys Elizabeth Mixon d 2013; sister Thelma Wilhelmina Whitcomb, d. 1938; her father, Albion Carlyle Whitcomb d. 1982, and mother, Marie Verna Burck d. 2000; and nephews, Daniel Steven Oliver 2007, and Stanley Richard Oliver 1958. The 'Celebration of Vivian's Life' service will take place at the Milton Shealy Funeral Home, 115 N Pine St, Batesburg, SC 29006 at 2 pm May 31 , 2014. Visitation will follow the service at the same location. A summation of Vivian's life is "Perseverance with dignity and integrity". Interment will be next to husband John at the Sardis Baptist Church Cemetery, Saluda South Carolina. The family appreciates and thanks Tri-county Hospice, Oakleaf Village care givers and staff for their service making mom comfortable her final years, months and days. In lieu of flowers consider memorials to: Alzheimer's Association, 3223 Sunset Blvd., Suite 100, West Columbia, SC 29169.

Service:

2:00 P.M. Saturday, May 31

Milton Shealy Funeral Home Chapel



Visitation:

after the service

Milton Shealy Funeral Home