A Loss For All Of Us

The world may be focused on the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, but for many of us there was a much more significant loss from this world.

Kinlee Cher Trammell Farris was laid to rest last week before an overflow group of friends and family at Church of the Servant in northwest Oklahoma City. For some of you, this may seem irrelevant. However, for those of us who had a chance to know Kinlee, she was a ray of light in what can often be a world full of darkness.

 

Always with that infectious smile on her face, Kinlee had a way of focusing on the positive. Despite continuously having to fight off breast cancer – which she did four times the past eight years – Kinlee continued to look forward and take an optimistic approach to her life.

She didn’t allow her health struggles to negatively affect her career, as she was always on an upward path. Kinlee was most recently the CEO of the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, a position in which she excelled in promoting a community I partially grew up in during my younger years.

Kinlee was known for a lot of positives but for most of us who knew her, it was that constant smile that stood out. She has forever been linked to the “Mister Happy” symbol that was always a major part of her life. Despite everything, Kinlee was always smiling and the Mister Happy was reflective of who she was.

I have a lot of memories involving Kinlee, starting with her dating one of my best friends in high school. She actually set me up with her best friend at one point and the four of us hung out quite a bit for a few months while I was home from college. Regrettably, as it so often turns out, life got in the way and I lost touch with all of them for several years.

Kinlee and her friend, Amy, got back into my life many years later and I was fortunate enough to get to spend some fun times with Kinlee as a result of that reunion. She was one of the few friends who came out to watch me announce a football game at Langston University. She invited me out to hang out with her parents and watch in person an historic overtime Bedlam football game when The Belldozer gave us some lasting highlights.

All that said, one of my favorite memories of Kinlee showed just who she was as a person. I was having a difficult time locating a specific video game my son wanted for his birthday. I had pretty much given up on being able to give him that particular gift when Kinlee let me know she had found the game in Shawnee, where she worked at the time. That alone was such an awesome thing, but she one-upped herself by driving to Oklahoma City to meet me to give me the game.

This was typical for who Kinlee was. She was so giving.

I have always felt bad that she was chosen to be the person to have to go through everything she has had to deal with. I don’t know why the best people seem to be the ones who have to deal with so much tragedy, but she played the cards she was dealt better than anyone I know. I am proud to have known Kinlee Cher Trammell Farris, and I know she is looking down on us with that always-present smile.