Working in the crop dusting and insurance industries, Dorothy Kimmel “conquered two man’s worlds with a lot of grace” in a successful business career, son Frank Kimmel of Greenwood said Thursday.
Mrs. Kimmel, 88, who started Kimmel Aviation Insurance Agency Inc., died Tuesday at an assisted living facility in Flowood.
“Truly she was a woman ahead of her time. She started an insurance business in the 1970s, and it grew ... and she soon came to represent most of the aviation businesses,” said Allan Hammons, who knew Mrs. Kimmel through his development work for Greenwood-Leflore Airport.
“She was a bigger-than-life force, very outgoing and very gracious, but at the same time she was strictly business,” Hammons said.
She was born in Skuna Bottom, a community near the town of Houlka, and graduated from Houlka High School in 1950, the same year in which she finished in the top 10 of the Miss Hospitality pageant held in Biloxi. She also played basketball for one year at East Mississippi Junior College.
Mrs. Kimmel lived in Georgia for a period of time before moving back to Houlka. In 1966, she married F. Stewart Kimmel Jr., and they settled in Houston, Mississippi.
Mrs. Kimmel started Kimmel Aviation Underwriters in 1972, and in 1977 she and her family moved to Greenwood. Kimmel Aviation Underwriters was incorporated as Kimmel Aviation Insurance Agency Inc. in 1979, and Mrs. Kimmel’s business was recognized worldwide because of her work ethic and desire to take care of agricultural aviation pilots.
“She had a big heart. She loved young startup pilots,” said another son, Mark Kimmel of Greenwood. “She would give extra efforts to those people.”
In addition, he said, she treated pilots as friends and an extension of her family.
Mrs. Kimmel served as president of the Women of the Mississippi Agricultural Aviation Association (MAAA) and president of the Women of the National Agricultural Aviation Association.
Her hard work resulted in numerous accolades, such as MAAA’s Outstanding Service, Lee Abide and Honorary Lifetime Membership awards. In 2014, MAAA renamed its Woman of the Year award after her. “She was something of a legend,” Hammons said.
Frank Kimmel said his mother was well-respected in the agricultural aviation industry.
Another son, Richard Kimmel, also of Greenwood, said she was “a lady of class.”
In addition to her three sons in Greenwood, Mrs. Kimmel is survived by a fourth son, William Kimmel of Flowood, as well as a sister in North Carolina, 11 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
Visitation for Mrs. Kimmel will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at North Greenwood Baptist Church’s sanctuary. A private graveside service will be held later in Verona.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
