Mabel Pauline Kinnaman

Mabel P. Kinnaman (McAlister/Hamill) December 22, 1927- March 26, 2019) Mabel Pauline Kinnaman passed away March 26 at the age of 91 years. Mabel was born and raised on the McAlister family farm in Chautauqua County, Kansas. She was the daughter of John and Hazel (Chase) McAlister; sister of Gladys, Gerald, Iona, and Harold Joe. Following her graduation from Sedan, Kansas High School, she moved to Coffeyville, Kansas and was employed by the First National Bank. There she met and married her husband, Charles Merlin Hamill. Mabel and Merlin raised their two children, Sandra and Vance, in Coffeyville. During that time Mabel was an active member of the First United Methodist Church, president of the local Jaycee Janes (Ladies Junior Chamber of Commerce,) Girl Scout leader, PTO Mom, and a ladies bridge club. Following Merlin’s death, Mabel married Lowell Kinnaman and moved to Cedar Vale, Kansas where she was employed by the Cedar Vale State bank and where she and Lowell were cattle ranchers. Following Lowell’s death, Mabel moved to Louisburg, Kansas to be closer to her daughter. There she was active in the Louisburg United Methodist Church, volunteered at an elementary school, and participated in the Red Hat Ladies Club. Although she moved to the Kansas City area, she considered it to be her home away from her true home, the ranch in the Flint Hills of southern Kansas. Beside Sandra and Vance and his wife, Monica, Mabel was able to say goodbye to her grandchildren: Amanda and her husband Chad, James Eric and his wife Cherryl, Alexandria, and Sheridan Connor as well as to her three great-grandchildren; James, Amara, and Isabella. Due to her upbringing and unfailing spiritual values, Mabel believed in being fair and being respectful whether tending to her immediate or extended family, her friends, her customers, or her business associates. These qualities carried over to her dedication of being a mindful steward of the land and the cattle that she tended. One of her greatest pleasures was traveling as she visited all 50 states as well as Mexico, Europe, Africa, South Korea, and China. But let there be no doubt that she was a child of Chautauqua County and the Flint Hills of Kansas, a home that in her heart she would never leave. Sandra and Vance now see Mom walking through her beloved pastures with the sun on her face and the breeze blowing gently with her husbands at her side as she is thinking of fond memories of her family and friends. She now departs this earth to join her heavenly host where maybe, just maybe, she can still get television reception to watch and “coach” the KU Jayhawk basketball team on to victory. Gravesite burial of Mabel’s ashes will be held at a later date in the Grenola, Kansas cemetery. When final plans have been made, notifications will be made public. Suggested memorials are the Nature Conservatory and the Kansas City Alzheimer’s Association C/O Dengel & Son Mortuary Louisburg Chapel P.O. Box 669 Louisburg, KS 66053. To share your memories of Mabel or leave a special condolence message for her family, please click the Share a Memory Tab.