Hazel Kuney

Hazel May (Poe) Kuney was born on August 6, 1932 in Missoula Montana to Forrest and Flossie Poe. She passed away peacefully at Oakmont Guest Care Center in Hurst, Texas on August 14, 2022 as her daughter held her hand.

Hazel was the oldest of two children. She lived with her parents and younger sister on their 630 acre family ranch in what is now the Rattlesnake Recreation Area and Wilderness, just north of Missoula. When she was 4, both she and her father contracted polio. She made a full recovery, but her father was left unable to do all the work required to make a living off the land so the family sold the ranch and moved into Missoula where he could get work. Hazel attended school in Missoula and enjoyed making deep friendships that would last her entire lifetime. She loved to reflect on her time as a flag twirler for high school football games – a sport she always enjoyed following. As a young adult, fresh out of high school, she joined a dance club called the Live Wires. It was in this dance club that she met a handsome young man with a gift for dancing named Russ who would become her husband.

Hazel and Russ married in June of 1960. They both worked and Russ went back to college to finish a degree he started. If that wasn’t busy enough for them, they also decided to buy some property and build a house together from the ground up. This house was built from a blueprint that Hazel drew up. The developer had so many requests for the floor plan she created, that he asked her if he could buy it from her and the money she earned from her blueprint paid for the supplies they needed to build the house. She was always very proud of that and so was her family. They added one more to their family, a daughter, and they moved to Helena, Montana where they build yet another house together from the ground up. After a few years they made a big move to California, buying a home in the San Francisco Bay Area and making California their home for the next 30 years. While in California, Hazel worked for Bank of America, and took up quilting and made lots of friends. In 2003, Hazel and Russ packed up their things and moved to Colleyville, Texas to be closer to their daughter and her family. Hazel loved to read, go on road trips, see and learn new things, be a helping hand to anyone she met, and support her church community. Because of her love of quilting, she joined the Trinity Valley Quilters Guild where she made great new friends and was inspired to create many new quilts that she gifted to friends and family. She also made quilted items to be donated to various agencies like Meals on Wheels.

Hazel loved her family fiercely and cherished every moment with them. They all knew that she was always their biggest fan and loudest cheerleader. She believed in kindness and hospitality and that every person had great value. She was thrilled to be able to see her grandchildren graduate from college and to meet her first great grandchild. She was also determined to reach the age of 90, which she did. Hazel will be missed by all the people whose lives she touched with her kindness and the joy she brought with her wherever she went.

Hazel is survived by her daughter, Lynne Rhodes, son-in-law Philip Rhodes, grandchildren, Nicolas Rhodes and Brenna Rhodes, great granddaughter Olivia Hamlett as well as numerous nieces and nephews. The service to celebrate Hazel’s life will be held on Thursday, August 25, 2022 at 2:00pm at First United Methodist Church of Hurst, Texas. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Project Transformation Central Texas or to First United Methodist Church of Hurst.