She was born Mary Opal Johnson on March 1, 1922, the youngest of six daughters, to Carl and Jennie Johnson at the family farm on the Loop Road. She was raised and attended school in Stanfield until 1936 when Mary and her parents moved to Pilot Rock. She graduated from Pilot Rock High School in 1939, then attended Whitman College in Walla Walla for two years.
Mary married Jim Kindall on Oct. 19, 1941, in Yuma, Ariz. They lived in Hawthorne, Calif., during World War II. After the war, they returned to Pilot Rock for a year, then moved to the Johnson Homestead at Stanfield in early 1947 where they farmed for the next 28 years. In 1962 Mary and Jim began raising turkeys. Mary did much of the turkey work, in addition to keeping the family books, cooking, and sewing, while Jim continued farming. Jim and Mary retired from farming in 1979, at which time Mary began working as a typist for the Simmons-Fisher Insurance Agency in Hermiston, a job she kept until 1988. In April 2014 Mary sold her home on the Loop Road and moved to Sun Terrace.
She was a member of the Loop Road Harmony Club from 1949 until she moved into Sun Terrace. Mary was an accomplished bookkeeper, gardener, seamstress, and pianist, and always had something on hand to eat whenever anyone dropped by. She enjoyed reading and crossword puzzles.
She is survived by three daughters, Marilyn Olson and husband, Herb, Littleton, Colorado, Barbara Weissenfluh, Kennewick, Wash.,, and Kathleen Kindall and husband, Dan Boyd, Richland, Wash.; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents; five sisters; grandson, Jacob Weissenfluh; and her husband, Jim.
A funeral service will be held on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015 at 1 p.m. at Burns Mortuary Chapel in Hermiston. Burial will follow at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Stanfield.
Those who wish may make contributions in Mary’s memory to Good Shepard Medical Center in Hermiston or the American Heart Association.
Please sign the condolence book at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com.
Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in care of arrangements.
