RAMONA—Gene Kinney hasn’t let his approaching 95th birthday keep him from serving as a deacon and member of the leadership team at Ramona, First. Most Sundays, you will find Kinney, who will celebrate his 95th birthday on Nov. 17, attending his Sunday School class and worship services.

“Gene has been attending here about 40 years,” said Pastor Lynn Nickel. “He has been one of our deacons for a long, long time. He’s a great guy. He’s regularly here. Things change as you get older, of course, but he’s usually here. We depend on him a lot. He’s a good man.

Kinney was Ramona, First’s Treasurer for about 35 years and served as Sunday School director for many years. Although you will still usually find him at church on Sundays, he admits that the wheels of time have forced him to slow down.

“I’m not as active as I should be,” he smiled. “When you get older you slow down a lot.”

Kinney worked for Cities Service Oil Co. and Occidental Oil Co. before he retired in 1987 and moved to Ramona, which was historically an oil town and also a stop for the Santa Fe railroad. But, when the oil began to dry up, the town, which is located between Tulsa and Bartlesville on U.S. Hwy 75, began to shrink. Today, Ramona’s population is slightly more than 500, and only a few businesses remain.

Following World War II, Kinney returned to the United States and, “went right into school.” He later settled in Broken Arrow with his wife Mary, who died in 2018. The couple attended Broken Arrow, Trinity, where Kinney was ordained as a deacon and served as Royal Ambassadors leader.

Gene and Mary have three sons, nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, who help to keep him young.

In Ramona, the Kinneys taught third and fourth grade Sunday School for many years. Gene led the boys class and Mary, the girls.

Advances in technology precipitated Kinney’s retirement from serving as church Treasurer.

“When everything went on computers, I stopped,” he laughed. “I used to be very diligent with my pencil; if the balance was even one penny off, I searched and searched for it until I found it.”

But he didn’t stop serving the church. In addition to Sundays, he continues to attend prayer meetings on Wednesday night and regularly connects with fellow member Rodney Lair, his prayer partner for more than 40 years.

“This is a nice church. We have a good pastor and nice people and leaders,” he said.