Gladys "Floy" (Jeffers) Kinsella
October 19, 1923 - January 25, 2012
Floy graduated from Coulee City High School and received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in 1945. In the summer of 1957, Floy attended Eastern Washington University full time in order to prepare for teaching. She taught 3rd Grade in 1957-58 for the Coulee City District and completed studies at Eastern Washington University for h...er teaching certificate. She retired from her position as the art teacher at Greenacres Junior High in the Spokane Valley. She enjoyed her colleagues and the many ways that she could support the arts in her school. She was a member of Phi Delta Kappa and the American Association of University Women (AAUW) during her teaching career. She was a member of the Spokane Valley Methodist Church and earlier in her life, Coulee City Presbyterian Church where she taught Sunday School. In 2008-09, her paintings were shown at the Gallery of Thumb in Spokane.
Floy is survived by her daughters and son in-law, Kathy (Tomas) Ybarra and Karen Kielbon; grandchildren Alonzo (Stacy) Ybarra, Sonia (Reynaldo) Toyo, Benito Ybarra, Josey (Cheryl) Booth, Kristina Kielbon, Chris Gibbs, and Jonathan Kielbon; and 7 great grandchildren – Carlos, Sofia, Olivia, Dane, Amado, Diego, and Lorenzo; and her first cousin Ilene Wick. She was predeceased by daughter Jeanne Kinsella; and parents, Fred and Gladys Jeffers; and John R. Kinsella.
A memorial will be held at Millwood Presbyterian Church, 3223 N. Marguerite Road, Spokane Valley, Washington on Saturday, January 28, at 1:00 pm with burial at Pines Cemetery.
Tributes in her memory may be made to: Swedish Visiting Nurses (SVNS – Hospice), 5701 6th Avenue S., #404, Seattle, WA 98108; Disabled American Veterans; or, the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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Our elementary school classmate, Kathy Kinsella Ybarra, reports that her mother, Floy Kinsella, passed away yesterday. Today Kathy sent me some of the facts that will appear in her mother's obituary:The following email notice was sent by Carol Hipperson to the members of the Coulee City High School Class of 1968 on January 26, 2012.
"Gladys 'Floy' (Jeffers) Kinsella, 88, passed away on January 25th in Seattle where her daughters were caring for her. She had lived with Kathy and Tomas for 8 years with most summer "vacations" spent with Karen in Spokane. She enjoyed the Coulee City facebook history site and continued to paint, read, do email and keep up with world/educational affairs. She enjoyed developing relationships with her 7 great grandchildren, including the youngest who is 4 months old and with whom she had daily contact. She was beloved and cherished by her family. She taught 3rd grade in Coulee City in 1957-58 and was a graduate of the University of Washington. In December, her first Coulee City friend from age 4, Margaret (Twining) Walston from Colville, passed away."
Some of us remember Floy's parents, too. They were Fred and Gladys Jeffers of Coulee City, owners of the Jeffers Motel on Main Street.
If you wish to attend the funeral, it will be Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1 pm at Millwood Presbyterian Church in the Spokane Valley.
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The following was published in the Spokesman-Review on January 28, 2012:
KINSELLA, Floy
Gladys "Floy" Kinsella passed away on January 25, 2012 at her home in Seattle at the age of 88. A Memorial Service will be held at 1:00p.m. on January 28, 2012 at Millwood Presbyterian Church in the Spokane Valley where she was a longtime resident.
Please visit the online memorial and sign guest book at http://funeralscoop.org/gladys-floy-jeffers-kinsella
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The following Eulogy was delivered by Thomas Ybarra at the Memorial Service:
Gladys Floy Kinsella was a woman who inspired us with her creativity and her passion for social justice. the daughter of Gladys and Fred Jeffers, she was born and raised in Coulee City, Washington. She cherished early memories of her grandparents' ranch "out on the hill", among the chickens, horses and other creatures. Floy rode on Grandpa P.J.'s plow and helped her Grandma Loie bake bread and churn butter. When she was five, her grandpa P.J. retired from farming, but she continued to visit her Aunt Miriam and Uncle Bud and cousins, Ilene and Gilbert who lived on a wheat ranch.
Most of the Coulee City kids stayed together through all twelve years of school. Every room in the elementary school had its own library and she thinks she read every book there. She saw her first movie in Greg's Hall. It was silent with printed words, while someone played a piano.
She grew up in a household where Mom and Dad made their living as small business owners. She admired her parents' hard work and ingenuity in making a living while at the same time showing compassion and generosity towards others. She enjoyed every opportunity they provided her to pitch in and help, and to learn some of their business related skills in the process.
At age four, she met her very best friend, Margaret Twining. They loved to play paper dolls, hike in the fields to pick wild flowers, ride bike, sleep on the porch and watch the "falling stars". Her dad told her many times how to find the gig and little dipper. Margaret and she would always look for the first star to make wishes.
Dancing was always a favorite recreation in Coulee and she learned to dance at a tender age because she always attended the dances with her mother and father. When she got older her father taught her how to waltz and dance the two-step, but as a teenager she began to think those dances were old fashioned and started learning the modern dances.
In high school, she was competitive, worked hard for good grades, and became her class valedictorian. She joined the school glee club, participated in the school play, worked on the school newspaper, and always helped with party or dance decorations. She loved playing tennis and was always on the team.
She was politically aware in high school. Her parents were democrats, so she was too. She listened to speeches on the radio with her family. Her Grandpa P.J. loved to argue politics and especially enjoyed a good wager with his sons, Lyle and Bud. Who ever picked the winning candidate won a new hat from the others.
Her parents knew they wanted her to have the opportunity to receive more education than they had, but they had different ideas concerning Floy's future. Her mother was very practical and "business-wise" and thought a business school in Spokane would be valuable. However, her Dad was intrigued with the natural world and his vision involved a university education, even if that would have required a greater financial sacrifice. Ultimately, they sent Floy to the University of Washington.
At the university campus she felt lost an a "little blue", until she met Mickey Jewell who had a room across from her. Then she met Eleanor Rosa and later, Jeanne Sheare. Floy, Mickey, Eleanor and Jeanne bonded in friendship that was to last the rest of their lives.
Her college years were dominated by the events of WWII. She turned 18 in October of her freshman year and was just settling into a school routine when the Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor. She and her new friends listened intently to the radio, including the moment when President Roosevelt declared, "we are at war". Despite dim-outs and practice air raid drills, life went on, except that the Japanese students who attended class with her were no longer in school.
Later, Floy said, "I had mixed feelings about the Japanese students that had been at the U., but were now in camps in different parts of the country. We were told that this had to be for the security for the west coast, but after attending some Quaker informational meetings, I doubted that this thinking was sane." She actively advocated for the Japanese students and families who were relocated to camps. She went to a strawberry truck farm and helped dig irrigation ditches and weeded, so a returning Japanese family could get started again.
She graduated from the University in 1945 and her parents were so proud. She stayed in Seattle and briefly worked in a glass art studio out on Alki Point, earning $40 a week, enough to pay rent and buy food each week. Then came V-E Day and later that August, the Japanese surrendered.
Her cousin Marty introduced her to a young sailor named John Kinsella. They were soon dating regularly and were married on January 1, 1947. Soon afterwards, John received orders to be shipped to San Diego and Floy joined him there.
After John's discharge, they moved to Coulee City to start a civilian life. They had three daughters, Kathy, Karen and Jeanne. Floy began her teaching career in Coulee City, teaching third grade in 1957-58, after which she and John moved to Spokane. She earned her teaching certification at Eastern Washington University, and taught art in the Central Valley School District until her retirement.
During her later adult life, Floy confronted the challenge of arthritis. Although the arthritis hastened her retirement from teaching, she remained active with her friends and family. Floy loved attending the community theater and enjoyed traveling whenever the opportunity arose. She loved to meet her friends at the club to exercise, usually followed by lunch.
She was an avid reader and looked forward each morning to devouring the paper with her morning coffee, and solving the daily crossword puzzle. She always stayed informed on current events and loved to discuss and debate with friends and family. She never missed an election and always found a way to contribute, no matter yow little she could afford, to social and political causes that were important to her.
Floy learned to use a computer and compiled a family history. She never missed a family birthday, whether it was her daughters or their spouses, or any of her grandchildren or great-grandchildren. She loved to work her lovely yard, constantly worked on craft projects, and painted.
Floy's paintings that grace our homes and brighten our daily lives reflected her love of the natural world, her affection and respect for rural and agrarian life, and her appreciation for people in all our diversity. She remained active until the final weeks of her life, connecting to family and friends on Facebook, Skyping, e-mailing and painting. Among her last efforts were paintings of humming birds that her great grandsons requested. She found those little birds a special challenge, but she did them with live.
On the day she discovered that she had a serious and ultimately fatal medical problem, she visited the Occupy Seattle where she connected with fellow educators carrying their message, "Teachers Deserve Respect".
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I love your story. I knew her as Mrs. Kinsella. She was my favorite teacher. I attended Greenacres Jr. High. She called my two friends and I her "Three Musketeers. Instead of going to lunch study hall Georgi, Anna, and I would go to Mrs. Kinsella's classroom and help her with whatever she needed. Mrs. Kinsella was a very warm and caring person. I grew up to be an Art teacher as well. I teach high school art in Kent, Washington.
ReplyDeleteHello! I found your blog after searching for the artist Gladys E Kinsella. My grandmother passed away recently and I found a business card on the back of a painting at her house with that name on it. I wonder if it was painted by the lovely woman you describe in this post. If you have an email address is be happy to send you a picture. It's a beautiful painting.
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