ORPHA MAY HINKLEY, 96, of Denver, Colorado, died Thursday, Jan. 9 at Mountain Vista Senior Living in Wheatridge. She was born July 14, 1923 in Granby, New York to the late Joseph Sandusky and Ethel Ireland Sandusky.
She married Keith Hinkley in March of 1946 and had three children: Marvin, Karen, and Joseph Martin, who died shortly after birth.
She was preceded in death by her parents; five siblings; an infant son, Joseph Martin Hinkley; and husband, Keith Hinkley.
Survivors include a son, Marvin Hinkley (wife, Lynnae) of Morrison, Colorado; a daughter,
Karen Almeter (husband Bernie) of Anderson, Missouri; grandchildren—Eric Hinkey, Laura Arellano (husband Ed); Curtis Almeter (wife Victoria); and Tim Almeter (wife Marlene).
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. at the Red Rocks Baptist Church of Morrison to celebrate her life.
Online condolences received at www.dignitymemorial.com. Search: Orpha Hinkley
EULOGY
Mom was a survivor, a determined yet compassionate person, resourceful, hard-working, and devoted as a mother and as a nurse. She was a person of integrity: she kept promises, was always on time; she always thought of others and rarely complained.
Mom survived the loss of her mother at an early age and the loss of a brother to diphtheria and a young nephew. She was severely burned at the age of 13 and bore scars on her arms and chest. She endured the hardships of the Great Depression. The family moved numerous times, from New York State to Missouri, to Kansas, and finally to Colorado. Mom was cooking and doing household chores by the age of 10, as her older sisters were grown and gone from home. Our home in Leyden had no indoor plumbing for many years and was heated with a coal stove. Our father died in 1971; Mom was widowed for the remainder of her life. At age 90, she survived a broken neck. She was on hospice care for two years, yet lived another four years.
Mom worked her way through high school, boarding with a doctor and his wife. She used half of her wages to pay for braces on her teeth after having lost her front teeth in a childhood accident. Mom had an artistic flair; as a child she wanted to become a fashion designer. She put herself through fashion merchandising school and created many of her own clothes.
She went to real estate school and worked for Century 21. She attended nursing school and became a licensed practical nurse.
Our mother was compassionate toward people and animals alike. She sponsored a child in the Dominican Republic for many years and visited Juana in her native country. She took clothes home to mend for nursing home residents in her care. Mom loved animals; She had beloved pets--Molly, a little terrier mix, and two cats, Sooty and Star. Mom fed stray cats and took many in to be spayed and neutered. She was a warrior for animal protection and was awarded a commendation for her hard work by Colorado Governor Hickenlooper.
Mom was frugal and hard-working. She built cabinets and laid rock walls. She tore down a wall and moved a kitchen sink. She sewed our clothes as well as her own. Being a product of the depression, nothing went to waste—she mended socks and repaired or re-purposed broken or worn items. Mom made us puppets, toy clowns, and costumes for Halloween. She baked pies and made many applesauce cakes and potato salad, her favorites.
Above all, Mom was a devoted mother. We felt loved but knew not to cross the line; she took us to the rural Leyden Sunday School and taught us right from wrong. She gave us freedom to explore the fields and lake in Leyden, and gave us opportunities like Cubscouts and 4-H; twirling, piano, and roller-skating. She planned vacations to Yellowstone and Carlsbad Caverns; Disneyland and Tijuana, Mexico.
In her senior years, our mother continued to take daily walks of a dozen or more blocks, and she went to “swims” weekly with her elderly lady friends. She took Spanish lessons and belonged to a ladies' club.
Mom enjoyed her grandchildren. They read “Ferdinand the Bull”, rode the corkscrew slide at the neighborhood park, painted the backyard fence and took baths in Grandma's antique claw-foot bathtub. She traveled by bus to southwest Missouri to visit her “country” grandsons as often as she could.
No longer able to live on her own, Mom has resided in various senior care facilities over the past nine years, enduring multiple falls and fractures, many stints in rehab and doctors and hospice telling us she was dying. Yet, with failing memory, hearing and sight, Mom would still have a smile on her face and a wave for fellow residents and staff as she shuffled around the facility in her wheel chair.
Mom was not a church going person, but she exhibited the fruits of the spirit. Having been raised by a Hell fire and brimstone father, she held bitterness toward the Word of God and religion for many years. Frequently she shared that her father pushed religion down her throat. But late in life, members of the family lovingly shared the message of the gospel with her and she prayed with them. She genuinely looked forward to heaven with anticipation.
We trust that we will see our mother again on the other side. On this side we will miss her greatly.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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