In Memory of . . . Dorothy W. Kimble (1942-2011)

The Rev. Dorothy W. Kimble died on July 1, 2011. She was 69 years old.

Rev. Kimble was born in Natick, MA, on May 27, 1942, to Joseph and Edith (Carter) Wilson. Rev. Kimble
received her RN from the Beth Israel School of Nursing in 1963, her BA from Framingham State College in 1976, and her Master of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School in 1981.

Rev. Kimble was ordained on May 3, 1981, at the First Congregational Unitarian Church in Northborough, MA. She was called to serve as minister at the Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson in Hudson, MA; the Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta, ME; and the First Parish Church of Groton, MA. She also served as interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Waterville, ME, and the Hopedale Unitarian Parish in Hopedale, MA.

Prior to, and during, her ministry Rev. Kimble held positions as an operating room nurse, a psychiatric nurse on a hospital
psychiatric unit, a mental health nurse providing in home care, and as the care coordinator in both an assisted living facility and a residential home for mentally ill teenagers. She decided to make the move to ministry because, although she loved taking care of people on a physical level, she felt “something was decidedly missing…of course, it turned out to be the spiritual dimension.” Rev. Kimble once stated that she didn’t feel she had left nursing, but “only that (she’d) changed (her) focus in regards to how (she) want(ed) to help others to help themselves.” After retirement, she continued this mission
as she took on what she referred to as the best job she ever had – homeschooling her eldest grandson.

Rev. Kimble enjoyed writing sermons, poetry and articles on the topic of nursing. In 1992, she received an award from Ministerial Sisterhood Unitarian Universalism for a sermon entitled, “Glorious Woman,” and in 1993, “Sacred Trust: Ministering to Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse,” was published by the Alban Institute.

Rev. Kimble is survived by her husband of 47 years, Stanley Kimble; her daughters, Diane Kimble Willcutts and Laurie Kimble of West Hartford, CT; and her grandchildren, Ty Kimble Padula, Pandora Kimble Willcutts, and Emerson Kimble Willcutts. She also leaves her brothers, Joseph Wilson of West Peterboro, NH and Clifford Wilson of Ashland, MA, and her sister, Terri Hendy of Nipomo, CA.

A memorial service is planned for Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. at the First Parish Church, 40 Church St., Northborough, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice at VNA Healthcare, 103 Woodland St., Hartford,
CT 06105 or the Farmington River Watershed Association, 749 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, CT 06070.

Notes of condolence may be sent to her husband Stanley Kimble, 22 Duffield Dr., West Hartford, CT 06107.