Obituary of Earl L. Kinney

GOUVERNEUR- Earl L. Kinney, age 70, passed away on Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at his home under the loving care of his family and St. Lawrence Valley Hospice. Calling hours for Earl will be on Friday, January 1, 2016 from 2:00-4:00 and 6:00-8:00 p.m. at French Funeral Home, Gouverneur. His funeral service will be on Saturday, January 2nd at 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home with Rev. Beth Benham and his good friend, James LaRue officiating. Burial will be at Maple Grove Cemetery in Richville. Condolences may be shared online at www.frenchfuneralhomes.com. Earl was born on October 2, 1945 in Gouverneur to the late John "Ben" and Edna (Blanchard) Kinney. He graduated from Gouverneur Central School in 1963. In 1965, he entered into the United States Army where he was in Signal Corp for 26 months, and then 18 months with the 125th Air Traffic Control Unit as an air craft flight follower at Qui Non, Vietnam. He mustered out in California as a SGT 5, and was honorably discharged in 1968. He married Connie Loucks on March 16, 1968 at the North Gouverneur Methodist Church with Rev. Stanley Brown officiating. Earl worked on the family farm for many years. He also worked for the Newton Falls and Natural Dam Paper Mills. He worked various construction jobs over the years. For a while he was part owner and operator of K&S Construction with his friend James Streeter. He also worked construction for Ft. Drum and most recently, Upstate Drywall until 2010. Earl was a member of the Gouverneur Elks Lodge. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, trapping, helping with the sugaring, canning with his wife and cooking. He is famous for his BBQ chicken! Surviving is his wife Connie; their four daughters and their husbands, Lisa and Matthew Foster, Tammy and Tony Simmons, Amy and Darren "Duffy" Bush and Cathy and Jacob Schiszler; a sister Diane Kelley; and his nine grandchildren, Chelsey, Mackenzie, Nathan, Whitney, Aaron, Cassandra, Nikolaus, Bill and Ben. Earl is predeceased by his parents; a brother, Gregory Kinney and a brother-in-law, Lindon Kelley. Donations may be made in Earl's memory to the Gouverneur Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 164, Gouverneur, NY 13642.