SHERBURNE – On May 5, 2007, Eva Jean Hinkley put on her best dress and her dancing shoes and headed for some mysterious dance pavilion. She was born on June 2, 1925 in Trail, British Columbia, had the tip of her finger cut off by a corn chopper by the time she was three, her tonsils removed on her kitchen table, without anesthesia, when she was five, and ran through a screen door when she was seven. Surviving all of these minor disasters, she went on to raise two children of her own and with the help of her beloved brother, Roy, raised four of her siblings after her mother’s death. She was color blind before it was politically correct. Without reservation, she opened her heart and her home to any stray cats, dogs, and friends brought by her children, Pat and Chuck. And, with non-judgmental love, she had the ability to see through any exterior to the goodness in everyone, although, it must be said that she had an eye for a good exterior. She roller-skated well into her 60’s and, in her 80’s, was the only resident at Chase Memorial Nursing Home to wear short shorts and look good doing it.
She was predeceased by her mother Hilda Irwin, her father Charles Irwin, her brothers Elmer Irwin, Gordon Irwin, and Roy Irwin. Also, predeceasing her was her dearest friend, Helen Brown.
Eva is survived by her daughter, Patricia Kramer, her son-in-law Jeff Kramer and her son, Charles Hinckley, who strive to live by her example; her grandchildren, Sasha Kramer, Tara Wunderlich, Dorne Hinckley, and Bree Ballantyne, who adores her; and her three great-grandchildren, Shamali Frankel, Ari Wunderlich, and Starling Rounds, who brought her constant joy. She is also survived by sisters Hilda Giaquinto and Hazel McCredy and brothers, Charles Irwin and Robert Irwin along with many nieces and nephews, who loved staying overnight at Aunt Eva’s house. Her God-daughter, a daughter of her heart, Wendy McDaniels, also survives here.
Missing her also, will be some of the residents and staff at Chase Memorial Nursing Home whose days were made cheerier by Eva’s telling them that she loved them and that they were beautiful. She will also be missed by her countless friends whose lives she touched in many ways.
She was on the board of the Pratt Newton Home, Earlville Senior Citizens, and Chenango County Cancer Society. She was a member of Church of Epiphany in Sherburne. She volunteered for Meals on Wheels and at Chenango Memorial Hospital where she knit hundreds of bonnets and booties so that newborns would never go home without them. She was the consummate volunteer. If someone was in need, Eva was at their door.
There will be no funeral or calling hours. Her family hopes that you will mourn her passing in your own private way. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Chase Memorial Nursing Home, 1 Terrace Heights, New Berlin, NY 13411. A scholarship fund, in Eva’s name, will enable staff members to further their training, perfecting the job they do so well.
In June, we will honor her wishes by having a celebration of her life with music, stories, and, of course, dancing.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Burgess & Tedescao Funeral Home, 10 S. Main St., Sherburne.