Lewis ''Dago'' Kinney

Lewis ''Dago'' Kinney, longtime Keystone area resident, passed away on Thursday, October 11, 2001 at the Cimarron Pointe Care Center in Mannford, Oklahoma at the age of ninety-six years, seven months and six days.

Dago was born March 5, 1905 in Shannon County, Missouri. He was the son of George B. and Margaret E. Kinney. He moved with his family to Oklahoma at the age of seven and attended school in Rigsby. Dago moved to the Keystone area in 1917 and has remained in the area except for a short while for the past eighty-four years.

Upon completion of his schooling, Dago worked on the construction project of Hiway 64, west of Tulsa. His job included leading a team of horses pulling logs to smooth out the road bed. He was married to Vernie Lorraine Taylor on March 18, 1929 in Cushing, Oklahoma. The couple made their initial home in Drumright as Dago was working in the oilfields of northeastern Oklahoma on a drilling rig. During the depression, Dago accepted employment with the railroad assisting in the laying and maintenance of the tracks.

In 1941, Dago started a long career in the plumbing and pipefitting trade. He was a charter member of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union No 205 in Tulsa and was the last surviving charter member at the time of his death. During his membership of nearly sixty years, Dago worked on numerous construction jobs throughout the United States including the nuclear power plant in Oakridge, Tennessee and Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. Additionally, he worked on many projects in the Tulsa area including the four major hospitals and the Williams Center Complex, (Bank of Oklahoma).

Dago was a member of the Westport Baptist Church. He loved to spend time outdoors in his garden and hunting. His favorite past time, however, was fishing. He spent countless hours fishing on the banks of Keystone Lake and below Keystone Dam fishing for crappie, catfish and stripped bass. At one time he held the official record for the largest stripped bass caught on Keystone Lake.

He is survived by his wife of seventy-two years, Vernie Kinney of the home; a daughter and her husband, Gerene and H. E. Lord of Poughkeepsie, New York; a daughter-in-law, Zoleta Kinney of Sand Springs, Oklahoma; eight grandchildren, Russell Doyle and Heather Kinney, Sand Springs, Oklahoma; James Hilton Lord, Poughkeepsie, New York; Susan Lianne and Lee Kuchenreuther, West Milford, New Jersey; Lisa Marie and Jeff Revis, Sand Springs, Oklahoma; Robert and Pam LaBelle, Skiatook, Oklahoma; Karen and Vernon Hitcher, Stillwell, Oklahoma; Regina and Kevin Wathor, Owasso, Oklahoma; Karina Ford, Cleveland, Oklahoma; eighteen great-grandchildren, and three great great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two sons, Jerry Ray Kinney and Doyle ''Red'' Kinney; two brothers, Jim and Earl Kinney and three sisters, Nealey, Lena and Tennie.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm, Saturday, October 13, 2001 at the Westport Baptist Church, southeast of Cleveland with Dr. Eugene Perry and Rev. Edward Zickefoose officiating. Burial will be at the Woodland Memorial Cemetery in Sand Springs, Oklahoma under the direction of the Chapman-Black Funeral Home.

''Visit an online obituary and guestbook for Lewis ''Dago'' Kinney at www.chapman-black.com.