Viola Kunkel

Viola Frances Mitchell Kunkel passed away on December 3, 2012 at Hospice House in Odessa.

Viola was born on July 22, 1917 in Baylor County, Texas to Issac Napolian Mitchell and Lillie Hazel Adams Mitchell. She attended schools in Westover, Texas where she graduated and lived in Megargel, Texas after she married Leonard Kunkel on September 17, 1935 in Seymour, Tx. Shortly after they married they moved to Wichita Falls.
In 1940 they moved to Odessa where Leonard went to work for Texaco and Viola worked as a Wayne Matney shoe representative in the Joann Shop. When housing became available during the oil boom, they lived in the oilfield camps in Penwell, Texas and Notrees, Texas for a period of twelve years before moving back to Odessa in 1959. Viola continued to get to know the ladies of Odessa while working at the Wayne Matney Shoe Box until retirement.

Throughout her life, Viola was known by friends and family as a meticulous seamstress and enjoyed a variety of crafts with her children and grandchildren. She also loved to travel cherishing her trips to New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, D.C., New York, Hawaii, England, Austria, and France. She was always present at the activities of her children and grandchildren and loved taking photos of favorite travel scenes and cloud formations. She frequently presented her grandchildren with scrapbooks and photo albums of their activities like exploring ancient Indian dwellings throughout West Texas.
Having been raised on a farm, Viola had a knack for growing any type of plant. She especially loved roses, carnation pinks and bluebonnets and saved photos of the best in her many albums. Friends and strangers she met enjoyed the bluebonnet seeds that she shared with anyone who expressed an interest. In addition to her flowers, she transplanted blackberry plants from her parents farm in Newcastle, Tx. and annually enjoyed the sweet fruit. From her parents, she also learned great southern ingenuity to be able to figure out a strategy to accomplish any task.

Research of family history was another favorite pastime. She delighted In sharing with her sisters and nieces the history of ancestors and relatives. She especially enjoyed meeting relatives in Mississippi.

Viola never knew a stranger and could strike up a conversation that fascinated her each time she made a new friend. She combined her interest of politics with her love of people when one political season she walked door to door in her entire precinct campaigning for a family member. That precinct voted overwhelmingly for her candidate.

She is survived by her sister Movelda Mitchell Mayes her children, Narita Kunkel Holmes Bradley and Curtis Alan Kunkel her grandchildren David Holmes, Misty Holmes, Nancy Kunkel Thompson, and Stuart Kunkel, and four greatgrandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents her husband Leonard Kunkel brothers Horace Mitchell and Nathan Mitchell and sisters Tola Mitchell, Juanita Mitchell Oliver, and Christine Mitchell Patterson.

Family visitation will take place at Sunset Funeral Home in Odessa, Texas from 1 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 6th. The funeral will follow at 2 p.m. in the chapel.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the UT Permian Basin Scholarship Fund or the Parks Retirement Village in Odessa, Texas.

Visitation

Sunset Memorial Funeral Home
6801 E. Business 20
Odessa, TX  79762
Thursday, December 6, 2012
12 PM

Service

Memorial Service

Sunset Memorial Chapel
6801 E. Business 20
Odessa, TX  79762
Thursday, December 6, 2012
2:00 PM

Cemetery

Sunset Memorial Gardens
6801 E. Business 20
Odessa, TX  79762

Memorial Contributions

ATTN: Development Department
Odessa, TX  79762


111 Parks Village Drive
Odessa, TX  79765