01/08/2026
Norma Jean Kinion
March 13, 1945 — January 8, 2026
Pryor
Norma Jean Duncan Kinion left for her heavenly home on January 8, 2026. She was born March 13, 1945, in Spavinaw OK, to Ray (Bud) and Mae Duncan in their family home on their orchard. She attended school in Spavinaw and graduated from Strang High School in 1963. Her childhood was spent in the hills of Spavinaw with her siblings and cousins. She grew up on a dairy farm rich with a loving home and a large family. She enjoyed exploring the woods and creeks with her brothers Cotton and Butch. She went to college at NEO for a semester then transferred to Northeastern State University and graduated with an elementary education degree in 1967. It was while she was at NSU that she began dating Jack Kinion. They were married on July 29, 1967, at Greenbrier Free Will Baptist Church.
They both accepted jobs at Porta Public Schools in Petersburg, Illinois, for the fall of 1967. Not long after starting their teaching careers, Jack was drafted into the army and Norma followed him where she could. When he returned from Vietnam in 1968, they bought a home in Petersburg and welcomed their son, Timothy in 1973. While in Petersburg, they met their lifelong friends, Charlie and Jan Morgan and Ted and Carol Claussen. She also received her masters degree in middle school science education from Western Illinois University. Family drew them back to Oklahoma in the summer of 1977 where Norma was an elementary principal and Jack taught at Copan Public Schools. They added their daughter Sarah to the family in 1978. In 1981, they moved to Adair where Norma finished her teaching career as a 7th and 8th grade science teacher. She taught thousands of children how to reach for the stars and how to find them in the heavens. Her dinosaur collection was legendary, along with her admiration for Albert Einstein, and she took great pride in teaching her students about science and life. She retired in 2000. She and Jack enjoyed traveling in their early retirement. The open road took them to Graceland, New York City and all over the northeastern US and Canada.
Norma was a wonderful wife and mother, but she found her true calling in being Nana. Jackson Ray Kinion was her first grandchild, born in 2006, and exactly two weeks later, her granddaughter, Bethany JayAnne Craig arrived. Being their nana was truly her greatest joy. She took them on all kinds of adventures, with a favorite spot being the cattle auction at Vinita. Wherever their adventures took them, Elvis Presley music was always playing. Norma enjoyed junking and collecting all kinds of treasures, watching the OKC Thunder play basketball and being outside tending to her secret garden.
She was reunited in heaven with her parents, her sister Faye Duncan Goins, and her brothers, Biggon Duncan, Cotton Duncan and Butch Duncan and a host of other friends and family. She also got to meet one grandchild when she moved to heaven.
She is waiting on the following to join her; her husband of 58 years, Jack; her son, Timothy and Christine Kinion; her daughter, Sarah Kinion; grandchildren Jackson Kinion, Bethany Craig and Ronan McCarter; many nieces, nephews and cousins and numerous life-long friends.
Her family would like to thank the staff at Meadowbrook Nursing Center for their devotion, care and love extended to Norma and her family during the past year and to the staff at Mayes County Medical Center for their compassion shown to her and her loved ones on her journey home.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Monday, January 12, 2026, at Shipman's Funeral Home in Pryor, with Derek Bolin officiating. Interment will follow at Benge Cemetery with Bethany Craig, Kennsie Claussen- Neal, Taran Claussen-Neal, Jackson Kinion, Jared Hamill, and Rob Hamill serving as casket bearers. A visitation will be held from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Shipman's Funeral Home in Pryor. To leave a personal message, please visit her guestbook at www.shipmansfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the direction of Shipman's Funeral & Cremation Service of Pryor.
