For two decades, Violet M. Kinsey Kintz was a model of efficiency, faithfully serving the Oxford school district by recording meeting minutes and crunching budget numbers.
Sadly, Kintz, who lived at Hope Senior Apartments in Oxford, passed away May 31, 2006. She was 88.
A former resident of Lapeer and Dryden, Kintz worked as the recording secretary for the school board and financial secretary at the district’s central office for 19 years until her retirement in December 1976.
‘All the board members liked her,? said Roger Oberg, who served as superintendent from 1961-78. ‘She was a pleasant person to have in the office.?
Described as a ‘very efficient person? and ‘good office manager,? Oberg said Kintz ‘left a good impression? on all who visited the district’s central office.
‘She was a credit to our school district,? said Helen Smith, who served on the school board from 1974-77. ‘She was magnificent.?
Smith called Kintz an ‘absolutely wonderful person? who was ‘very intelligent? and a ‘great help? to the superintendent.
Oakland County Commissioner Bill Patterson (R-Oxford), who served on the school board from 1967-75, recalled Kintz ‘kept the school district office going with a minimal amount of help.?
‘Nothing got by her,? Patterson said. ‘She knew what was going on.?
Patterson said Kintz believed in running a tight financial ship, meaning all the books were balanced and in good order.
Years ago, when a new school board member suggested the district could save money by having an audit done every two years instead of annually, Patterson recalled Kintz and Oberg both threatened to resign.
‘She guarded the budget very jealously,? he said.
Kintz? love and affection for Oxford, her on-and-off home since 1940, spurred her political activism in late 2004 when she helped organize a local petition drive to stop construction of the controversial Polly Ann Trail pedestrian bridge across M-24.
Although the petition was largely ignored, Kintz was quite proud of the fact that 520 signatures were collected in opposition to the $1.3 million bridge, which she described as a ‘grotesque scructure? in the November 10, 2004 Oxford Leader.
Kintz was born July 17, 1917 in Michigan City, Indiana. She was a graduate of Dryden High School and married her husband, Ronald ‘Jim? on October 23, 1936 in Lapeer.
She was employed as a secretary/accountant for 34 years in Lapeer and Oxford.
During retirement, the Kintzs? wintered in New Smyrna Beach, Florida and summered in Paradise and Hillsdale, Michigan.
Kintz volunteered at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point on Lake Superior.
She was a loving mother to Ronnie (Mark) Grobbel of Somerset Center, Gary (Jane) Kintz of Oxford; grandmother to Daniel and Amy Ludwig, Dr. Christopher, Elizabeth, Caitlin and Zachary Kintz; great-grandmother to Lynnae and Jacob Knox and Morgen and Harrison Ludwig.
She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 66 years, Ronald ‘Jim? Kintz, her parents Clayton and Gertrude (Fries) Kinsey, brother Millard Kinsey and sister Betty Kinsey.
A memorial service took place on Tuesday, June 6 at Muir Brothers Funeral Home in Lapeer. Elder Duane Salswedel officiated.
Interment at Metamora Cemetery.