Lucille Kinney

Lucille Kinney age 86 of Paris, TN, died Thursday, July 3, 2025, at Charter Senior Living in Paris.

Over the years, Lucille worked at various factories including the Clippard and Holley Carburetor Plants in Paris. She enjoyed baking, cooking, and floral arranging. Her love for children was shown through her time working in the W.G. Rhea School Cafeteria, and working in the nursery at Fairview Baptist Church, where she was an active member, serving as a hostess at church meals and other gatherings for many years.

She was married December 26, 1972, to her loving husband, Robert Rae “Bob” Kinney of Paris, and he survives. I Corinthians 13 says that love never fails, and their enduring unconditional love was evident in her long battle with dementia. Until the last few years, they enjoyed traveling in their RV and went to the Grand Ole Opry several times. Born March 7, 1939, in Henry County, TN, she was the daughter of the late Elvis Campbell and the late Ora O’Daniel Campbell. In addition to her husband of 52 years, she was also survived by three children, Eddie Jones of Seminole, FL; Keith (Kay) Jones of Florence, AL, and Gina (Brian) Scott of Winter Haven, FL; four step children, Rick (Amber) Kinney of Seminole, FL, Teressa (Jeff) Sasserson of Russell, PA, Jennifer (Michael) Fitzpatrick and family of Durham, ME, and Narda Smith and family of New York; six grandchildren, Matt Jones, Lindy Jones Starkey, Ellie Rae Scott, Nathan Scott, Michael Kinney, and Cortny Sasserson Bridges; and 3 great grandchildren, with a another due in August. She was affectionately referred to as "Mama Lu" by some grandchildren and even by friends and Charter staff members.

Along with her parents, Lucille was also preceded in death by a sister, Earline Walker; and five brothers, Wesley Campbell, Sam Campbell, Floyd Campbell, twins JB and JD (in infancy) Campbell; a daughter in law, Lynn Jones, and a grandson, Joshua Sasserson.

Ridgeway Funeral Home 201 Dunlap St., /P.O. Box 788, Paris, TN 38242 will be handling the arrangements. Her body is to be cremated with a  Celebration of Life to be held August 9, 2025, at 11:00 am at Fairview Baptist Church, 114 Memorial Dr, Paris. TN 38242.

Her cremated remains will be inurned at the West Tennessee Veterans’ Cemetery at Parkers’ Crossroads in Wildersville, TN.

The Lucille Kinney Family would like to extend their sincere gratitude for the love and care shown to her from the staff at Charter Senior Living since becoming a resident there in 2022.

Memorials may be made to Fairview Baptist Church 114 Memorial Dr., Paris, TN 38242, or to the American Heart Association www.heart.org.

Tribute to Lucille from her youngest son

How does a man adequately pay tribute to his mother by mere words? I’m not sure anyone can, but I will try to do so in such a way as to not lose the reader, while honoring her in the best way that I know how: the written word. It’s what I do. Before starting, I wish to additionally express gratitude to others who have shaped my life, from my wife, Kay, to immediate family and my “newer” friends, to those who know me from as far back as childhood. That includes virtually everyone who will read this. Why? Because you have made a difference to me, my mother and/or my whole family. Yes, it is an emotional moment for all of us who knew Lucille Kinney, but I feel compelled to “get it all out there” as one last tribute to my mother.

If you knew me as a child, you might very well be among those that helped us in the early days when, through circumstances that were no one’s fault, we really did not have much without help. We never lacked anything, because of the perseverance and faith of my mother and the caring of others. Many of those other people have long since passed, but if you’re among them and still alive, you know who you are. Just as I could not possibly speak much orally about my mother’s influence at this point (maybe never) and maintain any sense of composure, I would not be able to express to your face my gratitude without blubbering unintelligibly. Your influence simply means too much. This is my chance; hence, my rambling tribute. To those who have helped my parents at Charter, I can’t say enough what that has meant to me and to the family. To a person, I have nothing bad to say about any of you! Now, please bear with me as I talk a bit about my mother.

You may or may not know that she chose to forego her last year of high school in the late 1950s in order to get married and start a family. That was fairly common then. What you likely did not know is that, unbeknownst to me at the time, she “secretly” completed her high school equivalency by correspondence to coincide with my high school graduation in May 1979. When she told me about that, I might very well have been as proud of her achievement as I was of my own graduation! I hope she knew how much respect her determination fostered in me.

Before her long journey with dementia began, it was evident over the years that she had a special way with children. She used that gift effectively for many years in the church context at Fairview. Occasionally, on her day “off” from the nursery, someone would come into the church service and whisper to her to come in and help with a child who seemed to respond uniquely well to her. What was it? Well, it wasn’t from any fancy book; it was just her way. She had the ability to do the same with me when I wasn’t particularly easy to deal with. Like many mothers have, she even helped me pack when I abruptly decided as a child that I had “had enough” and wanted to run away, before soon deciding that there was no better place to go.

My mother easily comes to mind when I read the following words from Proverbs 31: “She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: ‘Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.’” Much could be said, and I could babble endlessly, as you have probably discerned by now. Songwriters can express things in a much better way than I can, however, so I will try to summarize her influence on me by adapting some words from a song by Gary Chapman. In a very real way, it could be said that she is the soul inside the man I am. I bear her dreams, and I am walking in her footsteps. I am talking to her God.

Keith Jones

Florence, AL