Twyla M Hinzman's Obituary
Twyla M Hinzman passed away at the Milford Delaware Hospice Facility on January 21, 2022. Covid restrictions required staggered goodbye visits with her husband, daughter and granddaughter as she ended her 18 month battle with Chronic Neutrophilic Leukemia, a very rare cancer.
Born Twyla Luann McCue on August 5, 1939, she married her high school sweetheart in 1960, graduated with him from Glenville State College in 1961, and had their first child, Rebecca Kay, in 1962 in Charleston, WV where her husband had begun his career as a school librarian.
The family moved to Dover, Delaware six months later. Dover Special School District (Capital School District) employed Twyla as an elementary librarian while Ralph became the librarian at Dover High School. In 1963 their second child Kathy was born; but, sadly passed away June 21, 1969, after unsuccessful surgery for a congenital heart defect. Twyla joined Ralph the following fall as co-librarian at DHS where they worked together for 22 years until her retirement in 1991.
Twyla loved the arts and excelled at sewing, quilting, ceramics, card making and many other handcrafts over the years. She designed the interior of the home they built and lived in for 42 years, even incorporating a stained glass panel she created. Twyla’s gardening and landscaping skills were shared with many; she always had a houseful of healthy plants.
The family was active at First Baptist Church where she was involved in missionary circles. Enjoying Bible research and program development, she served many years as program leader. She also served on the Boards of Trustees, Deacons and was co-chair of the Landscape Committee. She sang in both adult church choirs.
Music brought Twyla and Ralph together; they were selected for the 1956 West Virginia All State Chorus, which required giving up every Sunday afternoon from Christmas to Easter for practice. Two weeks after the performance they became really, really good friends and four years later they married.
In the 1980's the Hinzmans became involved in genealogical research, exploring, documenting and sharing findings with others. They joined the newly formed Hacker’s Creek Pioneer Descendants which supports genealogical research. Twyla was a meticulous researcher spending countless hours in this pursuit, sometimes involving travel. Visiting 48 states and the Holy Lands, the couple have 38 years of happy memories of their journeys.
Twyla is predeceased by her parents Creed H. and Madge McCue as well as her daughter Kathryn Elaine. She is survived by her spouse Ralph, daughter Rebecca H. Dale and granddaughter, Sarah Morgan Dale. Twyla was the eldest of six and they all survive including Vivian Bakas (Nick), Wanda Summers (Darrel), Joseph McCue (Kay) all of Lewis County, WV, Margaret Osborn (Ron) of Queen Creek, AZ and Wilma Johns (Kenneth) of Nacogdoches, TX and many nieces and nephews.
We thank Delaware Hospice, especially Nurse Katie Lynch, for the excellent care since mid November. We were amazed at the compassion and skill observed in each individual with whom we came in contact.
Funeral services will be at 1:00 pm Monday, January 31, 2022 with visitation from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at First Baptist Church Dover, DE. The internment service will be February 2 at noon at the Lewis County Memorial Gardens, Weston, WV.
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