Evelyn A. Kinney

Evelyn McCabe Kinney was born on November 1, 1924, the daughter of Cecelia Agatha Reinhard and Edward Michael McCabe.  According to family lore, her parents attempted to name her Dorothy, and baby Evelyn cried for three days.  When her parents decided to name her Evelyn instead, she immediately stopped crying.  Obviously, Evelyn was HER preference.  Having 8 siblings, she never had to look far for a playmate in their house at Hicksville. Throughout her life, Evelyn had a close family bond with her sisters: Maisie, Helen, Nubbie and Eileen.  

Evelyn had many talents.  She sang and acted in plays, rode on horseback, sewed and made an excellent bread pudding.  Evelyn always had an aptitude for math and received 100 on the Algebra Regents—even though she completed the course in one semester.  She loved numbers and could find patterns in license plates, phone numbers and crypto quote puzzles.   For one of the children’s birthday parties, Evelyn discovered she was short on candles, and used the few candles she had to represent the child’s age algebraically, with each color assigned a different value.   From then on, it became a family tradition to turn the birthday candles into a mathematical problem that the birthday child had to solve before cutting the cake! 

Evelyn was a passionate bargain hunter.   Her aptitude for finding the “best price” shone as she displayed treasures found at garage sales, estate sales, local stores, or items carelessly discarded on the curb.  In 6th grade, she bought a blue bike for only three dollars! 

Evelyn established a reputation for her diligence and excellence in the workplace.  She worked at a law firm and the Army Exchange during WWII.  When her sister Maisie got married, 19-year-old Evelyn “inherited” her job as Executive Secretary to Mr. Riordan, the president of Stern Brothers in Manhattan.  During one of her train commutes from Hicksville to NYC, she met a handsome man named Robert Kinney.  After she got married, she was busy being a full-time mom.  However, after Robert Kinney retired from Rosco Tools, Evelyn went back to work as administrative assistant to a stock-broker. 

Evelyn Kinney’s dream was to have a strong family life.  Being born on All Saints Day, she inherited the saintly virtues of kindness, religious devotion and extreme amounts of patience!  Robert and Evelyn Kinney had six children: Margaret, Robert, Janet, Kathleen, Edward and Elizabeth.   Her love of family was clearly demonstrated throughout her life as she played with her own children, her 8 grandchildren and her 3 great grandchildren.  Her eyes shone with joy as she held a baby, helped a child with a puzzle or celebrated a birthday.

Evelyn and Bob took their children on many family trips.  One memorable trip to Gilbert Lake included her sister, Eileen and Willy Dobler.  One night, in an act of kindness, Evelyn and Bob gave Eileen and Willy the more comfortable accommodations, a bed in the cabin, while they slept in a tent in the campgrounds.  That night, to Eileen’s dismay, the raccoons attacked the garbage, a snake was discovered in the cabin, and a mouse got in their room.  Our family has vivid memories of Eileen running after the mouse with a broom.  According to our sources, Eileen requested to be moved to the tent which was a lot less rustic!

Evelyn enjoyed any opportunity to celebrate with friends and family.   In her conversations with people, she’d ask engaging questions and try to learn all she could about the individual.   Evelyn really wanted to know your opinions, but was also free to share her own.  She was a devoted and loyal friend.  The three women she met as a young wife and mother moving into a new neighborhood in the early 1960’s have remained close friends to this day—6 decades later.   She and a colleague from Stern’s maintained their friendship for more than 74 years! 

Whether it was birthday parties, teatime at 4, St Patrick Day dances, or important family events, you were seeing Evelyn in her element.  She loved being with people and especially with her family.  With her husband Bob, she hosted multiple family reunions for both sides of the family. 

Evelyn Kinney was a gracious lady who will continue to influence our lives as we remember her positive attitude, her determination, her high expectations, her devotion to God and her love of family.  She will be missed!

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations

to Good Shepherd Hospice

(https://goodshepherdhospice.chsli.org/donations)

and Providence House

(http://www.providencehouse.org/donate).

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.