BERNITA FRANCIS LAUTERBACH KINSLER

Bernita Francis Lauterbach Kinsler, age 85, passed away August 26, 2014 at Kingman Community Hospital. She was born September 13, 1928, at Nashville, Kansas the daugher of Pearl John and Mabel Cornelius Lauterbach at Nashville, Kansas. She was a homemaker and a lifetime resident of Kingman County.

Bernita graduated from Zenda High School in 1946 and attended Emporia State Teachers College. She taught all eight grades at Coleman School, a one room school house, which became HH&C School. She met Ronald Neal Kinsler, a WWII veteran who served in Korea, when he umpired a softball game at the school. She and Neal were married September 5, 1950. Neal died April 25, 2001. Neal and Bernita lived six miles from Spivey for over 50 years where they farmed and raised a family.

Bernita worked at Craig and Abstract before her first child was born. Her hobbies included genealogy, crafts, music, piano, sewing, and reading-which she loved. She was a longtime member of the Kingman United Methodist Church. She was an officer with the genealogy group, Branches and Twigs and devoted member of the Zenda craft club. In later life, after becoming sight impaired, she found the Kingman taxi service instrumental in getting her to the library, Kingman Senior Center, and other places she enjoyed. She great appreciated the people who came to visit and read to her when she moved to Wheatlands Healthcare Center.

Bernita developed rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 45. The disease crippled her hands and feet, severly impacted her mobility, caused her great fatigue, and eventually robbed her of her eyesight. She never let the paid and limitations of the disease, however, compromise her interest in life, pursuit of her hobbies, or love for other people. She was not a complainer. She is survived by four children; son Ross and his wife Judy; daugher Michelle Blackwood and husband Ken, Darcia Kinsler, and Jan Pender and husband Tom; 7 grandchildren; and 5 graet-grandchildren. She was also preceded in death by a brother Vernon and a sister Velma.

Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, August 30, 2014, at the Kingman United Methodist Church. Friends may call from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Friday at the Livingston Funeral Home with the family present from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Burial will be in the Hoosier Cemetery. Memorials may be made with the Kingman United Methodist Church, the Kingman Library and the Kingman County Historical Museum, all in care of Livingston Funeral Home.