Ethel Grier Kimbrel

Ethel Grier Kimbrel Ethel Grier Kimbrel, 95, died Friday, Oct. 13, 2006, in Vero Beach. The Christian service and celebration of her life will be at 2 p.m. EDT Saturday at Miccosukee United Methodist Church in the Miccosukee Community, with burial at MeadowWood Memorial Park in Tallahassee. The Rev. Ted Warmack, a family friend, will officiate. Family will receive friends one hour before the service at the church. Bevis Funeral Home of Tallahassee (850-385-2193) is handling arrangements. Living in Tallahassee since 1945, she moved in 1997 to be near her daughter in Miami and later to Vero Beach, where she was living at the time of her passing. She lived the last four years at Royal Palm Convalescent Center where she became known as "The Whistler," always whistling along with the music provided by groups that visited Royal Palm. She had a keen sense of humor and offered a smile and a wink to everyone. She won the bowling game every day and loved to go on group outings. She was as active walking around Royal Palm as she had been walking around her neighborhood in Tallahassee, always believing that her walking aided her longevity. For many years she took her exercise along Thomasville Road and was greeted by commuters with waves and beeps of their car horns. Mrs. Kimbrel was born Feb. 24, 1911, in Alto, Hall County, Ga., along with her twin brother, Walter Lawton Grier, to their parents Harvie Augustus and Ida Coleman Grier. She grew up in Buford, Ga., where she met her husband, Albert Pierce Kimbrel Sr., who was a baseball player. After World War II, they moved to Tallahassee and raised their family. She was a remarkable woman. Survivors include her daughter, Grier Kimbrel McFarland (and husband Walter C.) of Vero Beach; a granddaughter, Kelley Kimbrel of Michigan; two great-grandchildren, Jacinda Lynn Kimbrel and Joshua Alexander Kimbrel, both of Michigan; and five nieces, Marjorie Kimbrel Masterman of Tallahassee, Jan Kimbrel Lorentz of Savannah, Ga., Sunya Grier Peebles of Buford, Randa Pritchard Crafton of Las Vegas and Nona Pritchard Robinson of Dexter, Mo. She was preceded in death by her husband; her son, Pierce Kimbrel; and five siblings, Walter Lawton Grier, Kenneth Blanton Grier, Harold Guy Grier, Joe Grier and Margaret Grier Pritchard.