Dr. Wendell Roy Kingsolver

1928 - 2024

Dr. Wendell Roy Kingsolver

July 21, 1928 - May 30, 2024

Nicholasville, Kentucky - Dr. Wendell Roy Kingsolver passed away on May 30, 2024 after living life to its fullest for nearly 96 years. He was lucky to have two loves in his life and four generations of family and friends to remember and celebrate his bright presence in the world. He was born in Winchester, Kentucky on July 21, 1928 to Roy Alva Kingsolver and Louise Auxier Kingsolver. At Lafayette High School and the University of Kentucky in Lexington, he loved studying science, exploring the natural world, playing chess and learning photography. He met Virginia ("Ginny") Henry, his sweetheart of 70 years, in tenth grade Latin class. They were married from 1950 until her death in 2013, and were partners in setting up his family practice in Nicholas County, where his parents and grandparents had lived, after his internship and residency in Cincinnati and at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington. He was drafted into the Navy and served as a physician in Annapolis, Maryland before returning to Carlisle to resume his practice.

Dr. and Mrs. Kingsolver built their home just up the hill from the new hospital in Nicholas County, and raised their three children there. He was one of the few physicians serving the area and later said that being able to use the newly available antibiotic penicillin and polio vaccine greatly aided his ability to help his patients. He served patients of all ages in the emergency, operating, and delivery rooms, at all hours, in his office and in their home or his. He was a lifelong passionate advocate of family medicine. He was among the first physicians certified by the American Board of Family Practice, and trained UK medical students in rural family practice as they lived in his home and learned what a 24/7 diverse rural medical career was like. After retiring from five decades of full-time medical practice, he enjoyed continuing to serve rural communities in Nicholas, Harrison, Bourbon and Scott Counties as a public health physician for the WEDCO District Health Department.

Dr. Kingsolver had lifelong enthusiasm for the natural world. He was an early adopter of organic farming and he and Ginny loved camping, canoeing and hiking with their family, and later birdwatching in Nicholas County and around the world. He loved playing the guitar and singing around the campfire. He and Ginny were founding members of the group that built Lake Carnico in Nicholas County, and founding members of the First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, in Carlisle, where he served as an elder and sang in the church choir. Dr. Kingsolver served as a member of the board of the Cane Ridge Meeting House, where the Disciples of Christ Christian Church began. He and Ginny were among the founding members of a Kentucky Sierra Club chapter, and were active in The Nature Conservancy, the Kentucky Natural Land Trust, the Audubon Society, and the Kentucky Ornithological Society (K.O.S.), in which he served a term as President. He was always interested in mentoring young birders, and he and Ginny established a K.O.S. scholarship for young people interested in the study of birds. Together, they worked to preserve natural land in perpetuity in Nicholas County, some of it donated to the Blue Licks State Park.

"Doc" enjoyed reading, learning about the world, and public service all his life, and shared those passions with his family. He served in the 1960s as a medical volunteer in the Republic of Congo, and later on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean and St. Anthony in Newfoundland, Canada. He adopted Sanibel Island in Florida as a second home for thirty years, and loved walking its beaches and visiting its bird refuges every winter.

Dr. Kingsolver found joy with his wife Eva Lee (Lynam Kanatzar) Kingsolver for over ten years of marriage until his passing. They shared a passion for public health service and enjoyed the natural world together and traveling to Sanibel Island, St. Lucia, the US and Canada, the Mississippi River and a lovely trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway. They treasured every day of their life together with their dog Gracie in Churchill Crossing, Nicholasville, Kentucky. Wendell, an only child, was grateful to have his dear siblings-in-law Lenora (Dick) Isenhour, John (Pamela) Henry, and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as becoming welcomed into the four generations of Eva Lee's family. Members of his surviving family include Robert (Paula) Kingsolver, Barbara Kingsolver (Steven Hopp), Ann Kingsolver (Mark Whitaker), Chris and Tim (Mimi) Rose, grandchildren Andrew (Breanna) Kingsolver, Ashley (Dan) Giannattasio, Camille Kingsolver (Reid Snow), Lily Kingsolver (Phillip Hall), David Whitaker, Stephanie (Brant) Smith, Brynna Rose, Elena (Asen) Strashimirorav, Giorgi (Christie) Polejanov, and great-grandchildren Joel Kingsolver, Julia Giannattasio, Owen and Julian Snow, Ema Strashimirorav, Addy McCreary, Charlie Smith, and Alexander Polejanov.

His loved ones will always remember Wendell as a free and inquiring spirit who embraced each day as a new adventure.

The viewing will be 2-4PM and the funeral service at 4PM, both at Milward's Funeral Home, 391 Southland Drive in Lexington on Tuesday, June 4.

The family would like to thank the kind staff of St. Joseph Hospital, Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital, and Thomson-Hood Veterans Center for their wonderful care of "Dr. K."

If you would like, please donate to your favorite charity in his memory, plant a tree, or go for a walk outside with a child.