Donnell Tinsley

Emily Donnell Brown Tinsley left her worldly home to be with the Lord on Friday, April 24, 2026. Donnell was born September 24, 1931 in Texon, Texas to Lone Jewel and Dixie Belle Cox Brown.  When Donnell was 18 years old, she took a bus from San Angelo, Texas to Fort Scott Kansas to marry Kenneth Leroy Tinsley. Donnell and Kenneth were married on December 12, 1949, and made their home for 76 years in Bourbon and Linn Counties,in Kansas.  Donnell was a skilled homemaker whose tireless dedication to her family created a foundation of love and stability that shaped everyone around her. If you needed her, she was there. She loved good southern cornbread, making it and eating it all the time.  She loved it so much, her nickname with the kids became “cornbread”.  Donnell was a faithful servant of the Lord and a member of the Xenia Baptist Church where she played piano for 27 years. She was an accomplished lifelong student of the word of God. She considered raising her six children as one of her greatest accomplishments. Her unwavering faith in God strength and perseverance, are amongst her most admirable attributes. Donnell was an angel on earth.  At age 65 Donnell took up hunting. Donnell hunted both turkey and deer by bow and arrow and rifle. She was so good at shooting the bow and arrow, she achieved three ‘Robin Hoods’. She had a keen eye and a steady hand. If you’re unfamiliar with what a Robin Hood is, it’s where you shoot an arrow in such a tight pattern, that one arrow goes into the other arrow in the target. Donnell was a serious hunter for about ten years.  Besides her family and friends, Donnell loved and did so many things and she did them well. From glitzing up and shopping to hunting, she did it all. Donnell and Kenneth had six children. Larry Lane (Revelle) Tinsley of Bronson, Kansas, Carol Sue Tinsley Hudson, Timothy Paul Tinsley of Mapleton, Kansas, Jeff Lee (Norma) Tinsley of Fort Scott, Kansas, Kendon Leroy (Serena) Tinsley of Joplin, Missouri and Kendra Donnell Tinsley (Dr. Bhavika) Patel of Woodstock, GA. Grandchildren: Michelle Tinsley Byerly, Shane Tinsley, Tara Ripley, Nancy Hudson Wilson, Cody Tinsley, Garic Tinsley, Harlee Tinsley, Tyler Tinsley and Rhett Tinsley Lamoreaux.  Great-grandchildren: Landen Miller, Hayden Miller, Tristen Davidson, Rhett Ripley, Phebe Ripley, Corbin Ripley, Quinten Ripley, Landon Wilson and Cole Wilson.

Graveside funeral service will be held 2 pm Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at the Bronson Cemetery, Bronson, Kansas. Memorial contributions are suggested to Disabled American Veterans. Online condolences can be left at www.schneiderfunerals.com.