Connie Kinser

To view the livestream for the service, please select the tribute wall tab above and select watch now. Connie Kinser, 84, of Winterset, passed away Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at Azria Health in Winterset. Family will receive friends from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., Friday April 1, 2022 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home Winterset Chapel. A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, April 2 at the funeral home. Memorials may be directed to the family for future designation. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.caldwellparrish.com. Constance Joan Gustafson was born in College Springs, Iowa on January 1, 1938, the daughter of Raymond and Veva (McCorkle) Gustafson. She was raised in Red Oak and graduated from Red Oak High School in 1956. She married Neil Bentley in 1957. They had four kids including one from Neil’s previous marriage. They lived in Kingsley Iowa, for a time & then farmed in Mills County Iowa. They divorced in 1968. Connie met Jimmy Kinser, a barber in Red Oak and they married in 1974 in Maryville, Mo. They lived in Red Oak for several years, then in Indianola briefly before relocating to Winterset, Iowa in 1988.They had one daughter together, plus a daughter from Jim’s previous marriage. Connie was the first newspaper delivery girl in Red Oak, working for her father who was a paper boss for the Council Bluffs Nonpereil & then the Des Moines Register. She had many jobs over her working life including bank teller, waitress, hospital receptionist, many secretarial positions, the Iowa DOT in the driver’s license dept. and as a child care provider. In about 1978 Connie started to work for the USDA in the Farm Services Agency (formerly the ASCS). She worked in Montgomery County for about 10 years then entered the CED training program. She served as County Extension Director in Warren and then Madison counties until she retired in 2003. She was one of very few women who served as a CED. She was a member of the Jaycee Jaynes of Red Oak, Classy Chassis Car Club of Red Oak, Winterset Rotary, and the Winterset School Board, having served as president. She sang in church choirs most of her life and enjoyed playing the piano. Connie expressed her creativity through her personal style, home design, music, and later painting, working with oil paints. She took a trip to Scotland and Ireland in 2010 and that influenced the landscapes she painted afterward. She enjoyed gardening and was an avid photographer for many years. She is survived by her husband, Jim Kinser of Winterset; son, Joel Kinser (Jen Hughes) of Des Moines and step-son, Tom Bentley of Red Oak; daughters, Darce (Jeff) Ovel of Decorah, Molly (Chris) Douglas of Urbandale, and step-daughter, Klissie Robbins of Denton, TX; daughter-in-law, Julie (Chris) Hendrix of Oklahoma City, OK; sisters, Viki Heuton of Pleasant Hill and Bette (Axel) Larson of Red Oak; grandchildren, Natalie Albin (Brayden Clubb), Travis Ovel, Melanie Ovel (Nick Hatzung), Drew (Wade) Carter, Gabe Kinser (Kelley Frary), Grace Kinser, Sophia Hughes, Pearl Kinser, Rowan Douglas, Heidi (Rod) Parsons, Zach Bentley, John Bentley, and Brandon Robbins; great grandchildren, Olivia, Mica, Meadow, Lane, Chloe, Madison, Zoey, Lear, Lennex, Laiven, Ronin, Freya, Samantha, Codie, Ashlynn, Tymberlee, Kolt, Kellen, and Mikala. Connie was preceded in death by her parents, Raymond and Veva (McCorkle) Gustafson; son, Bill Kinser; and brother, Mike Gustafson.