Connie Mary Katherine (Hill) Kimble

     Connie Mary Katharine Kimble, a resident of Gooding, Idaho, passed away on the 23rd of December 2021 in the St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise after a long battle of congestive heart failure. She will be greatly missed.

     Mary Katharine Hill was on the only child of Doris Elizabeth (Mason) and Jessie Levi Hill and was born on February 14, 1939 in Caldwell, Idaho.

     The family left Caldwell when Mary was 6 months old, they moved to LaGrande, Oregon. They stayed there for only 2 years, and then moved to several towns around Salem, Oregon, where she stayed until she was 16. Her mother said that she was very independent and active since she was about 6 months old. She lived her life to prove that statement.

     She then had herself emancipated from her parents. She moved with friends of the family to the Bay Area of California.   Mary got her nick-name “Connie” by flipping coins and coning sailors out of their coins for the juke box.  So, as she would come up to the men they would say “Here comes Connie”.   Mary held many jobs during her life. She picked field crops from the age of 9 until 13. Later she was a waitress and a car-hop (even on skates).  After they started calling her “Connie” she went to the State and changed her name legally because it was endearing to her. Oh man did it make her mom mad.  She earned that name and was very proud of it.

     She loved animals from a very young age.  At the age of 3 she bought her own chicken, named him Browney and carried her all over the place.  She had at one time or another during her life time - cats, dogs, horses, Yorkshire pigs, goats, calves, lambs, a capuchin monkey, guinea pigs, lots and lots of tropical fish.  She had a pond in the backyard of the house in Gooding.  Man did we fight over that pond when it leaked and we couldn’t get it to stop.  When she was at Heaven’s Door, she had her two current dogs with her - Doo Doo (Ju ju be) and Love Bug, who were her constant companions, there to send her off.

     She loved to dance and would do just about anything to get to go to a dance. She loved tap, square, some ballroom, swing and the Salsa. All of her dancing people would clear the floor to let her do her thing.  She was very, very good.  In Nebraska when she was in her mid-60’s she befriended an 87-year-old fiddler and picked up her tap dancing again.  She would go to his gigs and dance for him all over the Tri-State area.  She was part of the show.  She did that for 5 years until his death at 92.   She danced until she was in her mid-seventies.  Her last dance was just before the moved to Gooding.  She was very sad to see that part of her leave.  Her last type of dancing was the Salsa when she was in her late 70’s.

     She was married several times, but because of her very independent attitude, she decided that she was best by herself, independent.

     Raising four children - Angela Renee Fletcher 1959, Mark – (deceased); Leland Dwayne 1960, (Donna) Mandara from Nampa Idaho; Devilan Frances 1963 (David) Konrad of Fairfield, Idaho; Bruce Wayne Haire 1965 (deceased 1976).

     She needed a handle when she was on the Search and Rescue in Molalla, Oregon, so doing so many jobs to raise her family without the benefit of Government welfare or child support. The kids named her the “Work Jerk”. So that is what she took for the rest of her life on a CB was “Work Jerk”.

     Her many ways of supporting her family was in picking pine cones for a seed companies, picking all sorts of berries, milking 200 head of dairy cows, raising bummer lambs and calves for resale, contracted loading chickens for commercial farmers, planting, plowing, crew boss for harvesting the crops and then six years for the cannery seasons.

     After the family was raised, she drove long haul truck for 3½ years sporadically all over the lower 48 states and Canada, for Hyle Trucking in Akron, Iowa. Then 33 years at IBP-Tyson fresh meats in Dakota City, Nebraska on the slaughter end of the plant.

     She was a Volunteer Union Stewart; on the Safety Committee; also, the ergo committee always fighting for Safety and the rights of the workers. She worked on the investigations of a few deaths and got the jobs procedures changes so no other workers lost their lives. She gained the trust and respect of management to the point that they came to her with whenever anyone got hurt on the job to see if the FOB could be altered for the benefit of the worker and the plant. She lived in south Sioux City, Nebraska. She retired after her 77th birthday.  Taking up Farmer’s Markets and craft shows which she has been active in for over 45 years.

     In May of 2016 she moved to Gooding with her daughter Angela to be near Devilan in Fairfield.  Shortly her son Leland moved to Nampa, which brought her full circle back to her Birth State not far from her birth town. Our first winter here is when the area experienced “Snowmageden”.   She said not to tell anyone that we came from Nebraska.  They will run us out of town without a horse for bringing in the Midwest winter with us.

     She leaves 3 children 4 grandchildren 2 step grand kids and 7 great grands.

     A private family graveside was held at the Elmwood Cemetery in Gooding.

     Funeral arrangements are under the care and direction of Demaray Funeral Service - Gooding Chapel.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Connie Mary Katherine (Hill) Kimble, please visit our floral store.