Terry Jo Kinder

Terry Jo Kinder, 61, of Marion, Ohio passed away Wednesday, July 6th, 2022 after a long battle with drug addiction.

She was born in Marion, Ohio on September 7th, 1960, the daughter of the late Joe Wayne Kinder and the late Norma Jean Kinder(Prater) of Marion, Ohio. She graduated from the Ohio School for the Deaf in Columbus, Ohio in 1980, where she served as the manager of the Girls Basketball team, was on the Girls Flag Football team along with other extra curricular activities. She focused her studies on Business Office Education. While attending the OSD she made many lifelong friends who were family to her. Those cherished bonds remained throughout the rest of Terry’s life.

Soon after finishing school, she met the love of her early life, Fritz Rowedda. Together they began a life in Marion where they had three sons. She devoted herself to her family and friends. She enjoyed fishing, camping, family gatherings and family reunions. She LOVED being a grandma.  She also loved to crochet and was very talented at it. She made blankets, hats, and scarves for many of her friends and family. Terry took in any animal she found and would never turn a stray away. She was also known to give a free haircut or two. She loved to share recipes.  She never seemed to make those recipes, and her family teased her about that but she loved collecting them.   Terry was feisty and very animated. Having been deaf her entire life, that feisty animation was key in communication for her. You never left a conversation with her confused or unsure of where you stood or how she felt. It was in those moments, that you felt her sincerity.  She would pay such close attention to you and your hands as she watched what you said without the ability to hear you. It was in those moments that she was completely present with you, like nothing else in the world was there to distract her.

In sobriety she was a free spirit, always doing her own thing and following whatever path life led her on. She had an amazing sense of humor and wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to tease or give someone a hard time. Unfortunately, some of her most endearing traits were the same traits that led her down the tragic path of addiction. She was asked recently why she ever started doing drugs. Her answer was simple and came with a shrug “everyone around me was doing them and I wanted to fit in.”

Terry’s sons want those who read this to know, addiction doesn’t discriminate. She battled, and oftentimes won those battles over the years.  But in the end, she paid the ultimate price. She paid with her life. If anything good can come from her death, her children wish that anyone struggling with addiction would read what follows and it may save their life, or inspire even one addict to seek sobriety.  Know that with each breath comes an opportunity to choose life! CHOOSE LIFE! Your life is precious, miraculous and has purpose! Seek help, seek God! There is so much you have to offer to this world and your life is meaningful to so many. To those of you who know anyone battling addiction, don’t lose hope…. never give up! Fighting addiction takes the efforts of more than the afflicted, it is a tireless fight where the enemy shows no quarter. It takes everything from every person involved, everything. Our family has seen addiction up close and personal and we have all been left in the wake of catastrophic loss due to addiction, sadly it’s not the first time for our family, but we pray it’s the last. Please choose to live, put down the needle, pipe, straw… whatever instrument of destruction you use… put it down. Choose your family, choose your kids, choose your friends but above all else choose yourself! We wish Terry Jo had. Her family misses her and is deeply saddened by her loss. She is now home with the Lord and knows His peace and His comfort.

She is survived by her three sons; Matthew Rowedda and his wife Heather, their two children Dylan and Emmarae, Brett Rowedda, his two children Kyelyn and Mick along with their mother Jaclyn Schmuker, and Shawn Rowedda and his fiance Chandra Johnson, their three children Jaseyana, Ezekiel, and Wilder. She is also survived by four siblings; James Kinder, April Witten and her husband Tom, Krista Buckner, and Gordon Kinder. Along with several nieces and nephews.

The family will be holding a dinner in honor of Terry Jo at the VFW Freedom Hall, 961 N. Main St on Wednesday, July 27th from 6-8pm. Feel free to come eat, share memories and visit with the family. We do ask that in honor of Terry and out of respect for her sons, please come sober, leave sober and hopefully remain sober.