Jim McKinney

Jim Hollis McKinney, age 85, passed away peacefully Tuesday, December 17, 2019. His service will be held at 10AM, Saturday, December 21, 2019 at the Lagrone-Blackburn Shaw’s Martin Road Chapel. Burial will follow at Llano East Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be Friday, December 20th from 5:30PM to 7:00PM.

Jim was born in Amarillo in January of 1934, the son and grandson of Amarillo pioneers who came to the area near the turn of the 20th Century. Jim attended St. Mary’s, Pleasant Valley Elementary, Horace Mann Junior High and Amarillo High School. He met his future wife, Sadie Mask, on a hayride and soon married her at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church on July 4, 1954, becoming the first couple married in the new congregation. They recently celebrated their 65th anniversary.

He is survived by his wife, Sadie, and their five children, Coco Duckworth and husband Rod; Sterling McKinney and husband Lorne Loganbill; Gail Malacara and husband Paul; Clinton McKinney and wife Carol; all of Amarillo, and Clayton McKinney of Dumas, 7 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his grandson Graham McKinney and brother, Thornton Odell McKinney, who died near the end of World War II.

Jim’s life was marked by entrepreneurship and low-profile acts of kindness and service to others in need. He instilled a lifelong love of music in his children and family, is dearly loved and will be forever missed.