Genevieve June Hinkle

Before settling into her second career as the amazing wife, mother, grannie, friend, Yaya Sister, community volunteer and giver that she was to become, Genny served for fifteen years as an airline stewardess with Western Airlines during the glory years of air travel where tailored uniforms, high fashion, high heels, haute cuisine and impeccable service were the order of the day. She flew domestically and internationally on props and jets, and traveled the world on passes, exploring Paris, London, Rome, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Mexico, Central America, East Africa, South Africa and countless other destinations around the globe, living a life of adventure, discovery and learning and banking memories lasting a lifetime. In the latter years of that career she co-wrote the emergency procedures manual for Western at its base in Los Angeles and taught hundreds of cockpit and cabin crews the art and science of evacuating an airplane fast. Into the last years of her life, Genny reunited with her old crew members, seldom missing a reunion of Westerlies, the sorority of former Western stewardesses, and lunching monthly with one of her most beloved stews.

Genevieve June Dutke Hinkle, a proud granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants on both sides, was born in 1937 in Springfield, Oregon, the cherished only daughter of Bill and Mildred (Moni) Dutke. She grew up in the beautiful Walla Walla Valley in eastern Washington attending local schools and graduating from Walla Walla High where she was an accomplished student, a member of 4-H (winning numerous awards for her skills in sewing and needlework) and a talented violinist in the school orchestra.

After succumbing to the siren song of an airline recruiter on Career Day and devoting her 20s
and early 30s to Western Airlines, Genny met Tom Hinkle, a starving law student in 1969 on a blind date while he was spending his summer on Army active duty, trying to make enough money to get through his next year at Hastings. Embarking on her second career, Genny and Tom were married in 1970 at St. Mary’s Chapel on the Presidio of San Francisco with a never-to-be-forgotten reception at the Officers Club involving most of Genny’s airline buddies who made the evening more than celebratory. The couple set up household in the Mission District of San Francisco during Tom’s last year of law school surviving on the GI bill, where Genny’s birthday and anniversary gifts were usually sweets from the local grocery across Church Street, and where recreation was limited to countless gin rummy games at home in which Tom (a terrible gin player) ended up owing Genny (an excellent gin player) several million dollars, a debt Genny threatened frequently to collect for the rest of her life. Mark was born in San Francisco in 1971, and upon Tom’s graduation the couple moved to Ventura County where Tom got a job prosecuting criminal cases with the District Attorneys office. Karen was born in Ojai in 1973 and Genny poured her heart into raising her children, creating a loving and nurturing home, sewing their clothes and costumes, being a soccer and track mom, becoming a fabulous cook (think Sunshine potatoes), serving on the PTA, helping them with their homework, and introducing them to her multitude of friends, including her Yayas, who became as close as aunts and uncles.

Genny, the world traveler, found a special home in Ventura County. Many of the long friendships she developed over the years were forged through the many organizations and charities she served as volunteer, docent or generous donor, among them the Assistance League of Ventura County, the Ventura County Museum, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura, multiple Friends of the Library associations, and the Ventura County Bar Association. Notably in the mid-1970s, Genny, along with several other women affiliated with the local legal community, helped create a court tour program whose purpose was to introduce local school children to the nation’s criminal and civil justice systems, emphasizing the importance of those institutions to a just and fair society. For many years thereafter Genny served the program as a docent, explaining the workings of the justice system to the kids, arranging a short mock trial in which the children would play the roles of judge, clerk, bailiff, witness, and jurors, and finally escorting them into a courtroom during an actual trial where a judge would often interrupt the proceedings to talk to the students and answer their questions. Over the several generations the program has been active, well over 100,000 students have taken the tour that Genny helped create and run.

Genny possessed a radiant smile and an infectious laugh. Her warmth and optimistic spirit lit up every room she entered. She was a passionate cook, an avid gardener and most of all a woman who cherished her family. She died on April 4, 2024 of complications from a valiant three-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was predeceased by her parents and younger brother, Darryl, and is survived by her husband Tom of Somis, California; her son, Mark Hinkle, his wife Cynthia and grandsons Brooks and Logan of Bend, Oregon; her daughter Karen Hinkle, her husband Ray Mikus and granddaughters Josephine and Willoughby of North Middlesex, Vermont; her Yayas; and her multitude of wonderful friends.

A memorial service will be held at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Ventura, California on Friday, June 7, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that those inclined consider a gift in Genny’s name to the Assistance League of Ventura County, The Parkinson’s Foundation, or a favorite charity.

Family in the care of Destiny Garcia, Funeral Arranger