Carlene Sersey was born on March 20, 1936, to John Rhoads and Edna Vanwinkle. Carlene was the middle of her two siblings. Carlene was born in Kimberly, Idaho, but shortly after birth she moved to Missouri. She lost her mom at the age of 12 to ovarian cancer. John then was left to raise his three children alone.
Carlene graduated from Clinton High School in 1954. She couldn’t get out of Clinton fast enough and moved to Kansas City. She took a job as a nurse assistant at St. Lukes and
her starting wage was whooping .81 cents an hour. She then worked at AT&T for three years.
Carlene met Ken nth McFarland and they were married. They had two boys Jo D.
McFarland and three years later Jeff L. McFarland was born. Carlene and Kenneth
divorced and remarried but things just didn’t work out and she packed up her two boys and the two dogs and heading back to Clinton.
She started working at the hospital in Clinton. Carlene had to rehome her two dogs and it almost broke her heart. She had known Amos Sersey a long time, but they married on July 3, 1972. Amos was a barber in town for 59 years. They were married 44 years and was Amos’s primary caretaker until she couldn’t handle it any longer and moved him to a long-term care facility where he died December 16, 2016.
Carlene survived breast cancer and then started volunteering at the American Cancer Society. She would go to the hospitals and encouraged them. She also owned
McFarland sewing shop for a short time and raised and sold 70 different kinds of Irises and lilies. Carlene remembers meeting Alice Cooper and Ruth Handler the maker of Barbie.
Carlene has one granddaughter Jenifer Goth and one great step granddaughter Paige Goth. Carlene became a resident of Clinton Healthcare and Rehabilitation May 8, 2023. She lost her dog Sugar of 12 years in July and is still grieving her loss. Carlene’s advice to the younger generation is “Live your life to the fullest and don’t look back. Looking back is a huge mistake.II She.js always laughing and smiling and has a witty sense of humor
and spunky personality. We are honored to have Carlene at Clinton Healthcare and
Rehabilitation.
