Haynes, Kim – The Lives We Lived

Obituary

Kim Haynes, MSW

Kimberly Lynn “Kim” Haynes, forty-one, of Nashville, TN, died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville. She was born August 22, 1961, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Jerry and Sue Underwood Haynes. She was formerly of Marble Hill and St. Louis, Missouri. Haynes was the Director of Social Services at Christian Family Services, Inc. in St. Louis prior to becoming a professor of social work at Lipscomb University in Nashville. She was a member of Otter Creek Church of Christ in Nashville. Kim worked closely with several families who pursued the adoptive process, guided young women who faced an unplanned pregnancy, and helped many families adjust to caring for a child in need of a home through foster care. Her expertise and training led to teaching and supervising social work students for a life of professional service and ministry in the Kingdom of God.

Survivors include her father of St. Peters, MO; brother, Kenny Haynes of O'Fallon, MO; sister, Kristen Haynes of St. Charles, MO; and maternal grandmother, Thelma Underwood of Farmington, MO. She was preceded in death by her mother. Friends may call at Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill after 10 a.m. Thursday. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home, with Kenneth Liley officiating. Burial will be in Glenallen Cemetery.

Comments by Mike Runcie

Kim was a friend to many and a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. She loved tutoring young students from the inner city through Youth Encouragement Services. Jerry Collins remarked that Kim “was a favorite of mine. Several times I have used her class exercise of giving teams varying incomplete packages of tools and materials to build something and telling teams, ‘Do what it takes to win.’"

Kim’s passing was untimely and sad, but those who knew Kim were blessed by her presence of encouragement.

Comments by Sandra Collins

Kim Haynes could make me laugh till I cried. We sometimes spent lunch time together in the sad little lounge in the basement of the old Lipscomb library surrounded by the English and social work offices. I would get a Coke and eat peanut butter Nabs while she ate a bag of popcorn, and we would laugh. I heard how she had gone to an empty laundromat late at night in St. Louis, only to discover homeless men asleep in the dryers she had gone to use. Another time, she had rolled down a car window to ask a woman standing in the rain if she wanted a ride, and the woman had reached in and stolen Kim’s umbrella. The funniest incident, however, occurred when she recognized a female student who passed her in the hall. While working as a counselor at a summer Christian camp, Kim had done a bed check and discovered a girl was missing. Flashlight in hand, she went to other cabins and found the missing teen in bed with one of the male campers. “I hope she hasn’t signed up for my class,” Kim said. Those who did sign up for her classes loved her. She was a great teacher who inspired students with her compassion, her dedication, her knowledge, and her experience.

She helped YES director Bob Barnhill put together the first grant for creating a child care program, which later evolved into the Wayne Reed Childcare Center. Every year at the YES Christmas store, Kim would interview parents who had come to the store. She would ask them what they would like YES to do in the future. Without exception, women would say, “Start a daycare.” Kim was frustrated that year after year nothing would happen to answer these women’s needs. When it did, she was one of the Wayne Reed Center’s biggest encouragers. Friends placed a wooden bench on the playground with Kim’s name carved into the head board as a memorial. I see it every time I go there and remember.