1938-2020
Janice Kay Stine’s memorial service will be shown via Facebook Live 2 p.m. Friday, September 11, 2020. The Facebook link also will be available at www.forestparkthewoodlands. com at that time.
A 4-year-old little blond-haired girl in a bathtub with her baby sister is a lovely scene. However, one day in 1942, it turned dark. The girls’ 22-year-old mother (Janice Kimble) stood up, called out for her husband, fainted, and never breathed again.
Though it was a time when single fathers didn’t try to raise two small girls, their father Howard Kimble did. Kay and Karen lived with extended family in California during the war years so Howard could work. However eventually, it became clear the girls would be better off in the hands of their grandparents, Carl and Florence Schuler in Oklahoma.
There, they lived on a small farm where Kay was both a sister and a protector of Karen. Kay found new stability among her loving grandparents. She graduated High School in 1956.
Kay attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University. During her first year of college classes, she met David Kelley, fell in love and married. Weatherford was their home for the next 24 years. David ran the family business. Kay ran the household. They had three children, Kristen, Stephanie and Kurt and lost two more children prior to birth.
Giving her children the mother she lost so early, Kay’s children were the recipients of love, discipline and high expectations. Kay taught respect, schoolwork and full participation in life. Their small business, family and love prospered for many years.
Kay had a sharp mind, excellent communication skills and was movie-star beautiful. Their home often was the center of large gatherings of friends and an extended family. David worked 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Kay ran the home. After church Sunday mornings, the family routinely did nature hikes.
As with most lives, Kay’s was not a fairytale. She and David ended their marriage after 23 years and the sister demons of depression and alcohol haunted her. Needing to tackle the next chapter in her life, Kay put her sharp mind to work.
She finished her degree at the University of Oklahoma and received a master’s degree in Sociology also while attending Oxford University. She became a successful corporate employee after graduation.
A few years later, she attended a high school reunion. There, a former classmate, now a tall, handsome man named LeRoy Stine approached her. They began dating, quickly fell in love, got married, and remained hand-in-hand for the remaining 36 years of her life.
Lee was the perfect husband for Kay, disciplined, strong and steady. Together, they started a successful business which remains in their family to this day and were the parents of a combined 10 children, Brick, Kristen and Brian, Bobby and Sarah, Stephanie, Kurt and Lynn, and Kim and Ted, and nine grandchildren, Rachel, Erin, Chance, Eric and Sarah, Madeline, Andrew, Bella and Rebekah. Kay and Lee visited the world, provided the keystone for a large family, and brought love and friendship to many.
On Kay’s last day on Earth, she was surrounded by family, including her sister Karen, and friends. The few hours prior to her passing with her mind ever sharp, Kay spoke at length with family, joyfully reviewed the recent wedding pictures of her grandson with his new wife and gushed with joy knowing she’d soon be in Heaven with our Lord, the babies she lost, and her worldly mother and father. Kay left her body peacefully in the arms of an angel. Hers was a life well lived. She is sorely missed by those left behind.