Jimmie (Clark) Carswell

Jimmie (Clark) Carswell, age 93, of Alton, Kansas, passed away at Russell Homestead Assisted Living in Russell on January 1, 2025. 

She was born to Sarah (O’Neill) Clark and A. Seaborn Clark on January 20, 1931, in Gateway, Arkansas. 

Many people found the name Jimmie to be unusual for a female, but she was named after her grandpa, James O’Neill, and she was always very proud of that fact. When Jimmie was four, her mother, Sarah, married Homer Doughty, and they moved the family to Webster, Kansas. Jimmie had two sisters, Shirley King and Lucy Kennedy.

Jimmie married John W. (Bill) Carswell in Denver, Colo., in April 1951. They lived their entire married life on a small farm south of Alton. They had three sons: Robert (Bob), Gerald (Lisa), and Kendal (Elisabet). She worked alongside Bill, milking cows, driving trucks, and doing everything else she could do to help Bill and the farm be successful while also caring for the boys. After they sold their dairy cows, she worked outside of the home in several different jobs, both in Alton and Osborne.

Jimmie had always dreamed of owning a restaurant. This became a reality in the early 1980s when she and Bill bought the 183 Lanes Bowling Alley in Stockton. The restaurant thrived, as it was generally overflowing with customers every lunch and dinner. She took pride in how successful the restaurant became, and she looked forward to going to work there every day.

Jimmie lived a full life, enjoying every minute. She dearly loved her family, and she would protect them fiercely. She loved attending church, playing cards, visiting with family and friends, attending Ladies Auxiliary meetings, and the Bull City Opry during the Alton Jubilee. 

After her husband Bill passed in 1998, she eventually began attending dances with her lady friends nearly every weekend. In 2000, she began wintering in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas, which she did for twenty years until 2020.

She is survived by her son, Kendal; eight grandchildren, Amber, Travis, Samantha, Kassidy, Keith, Paul, Ashley, and Kendal Jr.; and numerous great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandson. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Bill, sons Bob and Gerald, great-grandson Khouri Snedecor, and her sister Shirley King.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, January 9, 2025, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., at the Rentschler Family Mortuaries Osborne Chapel.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, January 10, 2025, at the United Methodist Church in Alton. Burial will follow in the Sumner Cemetery, rural Alton.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Alton Pride and may be sent in care of the mortuary at 238 N 1st St, Osborne, KS 67473.