Barth Frank Hinkle

Barth Frank Hinkle passed away peacefully on Christmas day 2012, at the Moore-Few Care Center.

Barth was born Oct. 3, 1924, in Anderson, Ind., the eldest of two sons of Alvin Charles Hinkle and Glenn Eloise Hinkle. After spending most of his boyhood in Hannibal and Joplin, Barth served in the U.S. Air Force from 1943 to 1946. He received a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1949.

Barth married Catherine Sweeney on Oct. 1, 1949. They lived in Kansas City initially and then moved to Nevada in July 1951, where Barth was an insurance agent for Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company. In 1955, they bought the John T. Birdseye Abstract Company, which was renamed the Vernon County Abstract and Title Company, and they operated their business for more than 30 years. Their daughters, Julia and Caroline, were born in 1952 and 1954.

Barth was active in the community and in 1968 was named the Nevada Citizen of the Year. He was a longtime member of the Rotary Club, of which he was a Paul Harris Fellow and a past president. He served on the following boards: Missouri State Park Board, Nevada Parks Board, Nevada Library Board, Thornton Bank (now Bank of America) Board, Nevada Industrial Development Board, Chamber of Commerce and Jaycee Boards, Nevada Council on the Arts, Vernon County Extension Council, Red Cross Board, 3M and Crane Bond Issue Campaign Committees, Republican State Committee, Missouri Land Title Association Board and Ducks Unlimited. He also served as a member and chairman of the board of trustees of the Nevada Regional Medical Center and the Moore-Few Care Center. He was a member of the vestry and past senior warden of All Saints' Episcopal Church, where he also was the treasurer for many years.

Survivors include his wife, Catherine Sweeney Hinkle, of Nevada; his daughters, Julia Hinkle Penn of Milwaukee, Wis., and Caroline Hinkle Limaye of Austin, Texas; his brother, Robert L. Hinkle of Belen, N.M.; grandchildren, Nisha Limaye of San Antonio, Texas, David Penn of Providence, Rhode Island, and John Penn of Overland Park, Kan.; and great-grandchildren Odin and Kai Limaye of San Antonio, Texas.

Family visitation will be held Thursday, Dec. 27, 7-8 p.m., at Ferry Funeral Home. A memorial service at All Saints' Episcopal Church will be announced at a later date. Those who wish to honor Barth's memory may contribute to All Saints' Episcopal Church or the Alano Club of Nevada, Mo., in care of Ferry Funeral Home, 301 S. Washington, Nevada.

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