Carol Zane Kinney, of Roswell, Ga, ended her 12 year journey with Alzheimer's dementia on 28 February 2021. She was 73 years young.
Carol was a beautiful, fun, mischievous, happy girl; a wife, mom, grandmother, sister, daughter and friend. She leaves behind her a wake of broken-hearted loved ones who are better for having known her and will forever carry with them the unwavering love and infectious laughter she brought to their lives.
A native of Greensboro, NC, Carol was a 1965 graduate of Grimsley Senior High School where she met the love of her life and best friend, Ken Kinney. She attended the University of South Carolina and Atlanta School of Fashion. She worked at Sears, Dictaphone Corp and the University of North Carolina Law School before married Ken in 1970 and joined him on an adventure-filled Navy career that would take them around the world.
People say being a Navy wife is the hardest job on the planet but Carol embraced it. She enjoyed the travel, the new places and people, and the life-long friends she made. As newlyweds, Carol and Ken lived in Iwakuni, Japan, and had adventures to Hong Kong, Korea, Okinawa and Taiwan during their three-year tour. She climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji just one and a half months after having her first baby, Cameron. From there, Carol and Ken moved eight more times including Detroit, San Francisco, Virginia Beach, Philadelphia, Memphis and Atlanta. With two more kids and a whole lot of cats, Carol made each new house a home, found the best schools, sports programs and dance studios for her kids, never regretting the nomadic life. Moving, she always said, was just another adventure to embrace.
Her lifelong dream was fulfilled by being a being a mother to Cameron, Jason and Courtney. She was a fun and affectionate mom who made everything feel special, from lunchbox notes to her Christmas-morning presents by the bed to finding the perfect knickknacks to complete their first apartments. She was equally special as a grandmother to her eight grandchildren, giving them unconditional love and lasting memories even as her own memory waned.
Carol loved to laugh and make people laugh – the sillier and louder, the better. No one who knew her can forget that big, open-mouthed laugh with her head thrown back and tears in her eyes. It's how her friends, family, kids and grandkids will remember her. Love, sweetness and laughter.
She loved a good, hot cup of coffee and her cats, McDonalds ice cream cones and true crime books, football. Myrtle Beach, Thomas Kinkade paintings, walks in the duck park, watching Lifetime movies with Cameron, laughing at Jason's antics, shopping for deals at TJ Maxx and closing down the stores at Christmas with Courtney. She was a patriot, proud of her country and loved the U.S. flag. She loved traveling to new places and spontaneous adventures. She always wanted to know what was over the next hill.
Most of all, Carol loved her family: her husband, her three kids and her grandchildren. Even when Alzheimer's had all but taken her from us, she would still react to the voices of her loved ones. They could still feel her love.
Carol is survived by her husband and best friend of 57 years, Ken; her daughter Cameron (Thomas) Mize, of Woodstock, Ga.; son Jason (Suzan) Kinney of Marietta, Ga.; daughter Courtney (Jeff) Kinney Woeste of Louisville, Ky.; granddaughters Sophia, Samantha, Mary and Annabelle; grandsons Carson, Charlie, James and William; her brother E.R. "Bob" Zane, III; sisters Dee Dee Zane and Lisa Zane Perry; cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
Carol came back to Greensboro, to Forest Lawn Cemetery, near the park where Carol and Ken, as high school sweethearts, spent many an afternoon feeding the ducks. Lakeside Funeral Home 121 Claremore Drive, Woodstock, GA 30188 ph. 770) 293-2757 is honored to assist the Kinney family.

****Please leave a memory of Carol in the condolences section of Carol's obituary on this website. Tell us how she made you laugh, an adventure you shared, a way she made you feel. Her love and laughter were a gift to everyone she encountered and will live on as long as we remember.****