Ina Hinds, locally famous for her presence in Las Vegas exercise classes, dies at 105

Ina Hinds died in Las Vegas Dec. 16, at the age of 105. She was frequently mentioned in local news stories for her participation in active exercise classes past her 100th birthday.

As a widow, Ina joined an active exercise class at the YMCA.

“Everybody in the class was at least 60,” said Esther Abele, more than 30 years younger than Hinds. “But Ina was always the oldest, and an inspiration to all of us. She was still coming when she was more than 100. When she got macular degeneration and could no longer drive, she got somebody to bring her. When she started having to use a cane, she hung the cane on a chair, and sat in the chair using hand weights.”

Hinds recruited much younger women to the class. She also believed in a healthy diet, and drank a glass of milk before retiring every night.

The child of Ray Scott Richardson and his wife, the former Ethel Eliza Olinger, Ina Alice Richardson was born June 6, 1911 in Colway, Kansas. She may have been born with genes that induced longevity; one of her relatives celebrated her own 100th birthday the year Ina was born.

Hinds grew up in Weleeetka, Oklahoma, where her father was employed by the Fort Smith & Western Railway. She and other members of her family were stricken by the especially deadly influenza pandemic of 1918-1919; she attributed their survival to the skill of a company doctor who treated railroad employees.

Exhibiting independence unexpected in her time, Hinds learned to drive an automobile while still a child, carrying lunch to her father at work every day. She continued to drive until the age of 95, when she quit because macular degeneration had begun to affect her sight.

In 1935 Ina married Roland D. Hinds, and the couple spent much of their working lives in Virginia. In 1960 they moved to Lebanon, Ill., where both worked at Scott Air Force Base.

They often wintered in Las Vegas, where their son James R. Hinds, a well-known historic preservationist and living-history re-enactor, was a historian at Nellis Air Force Base. Ina and Roland eventually moved here, buying the house next to their son’s.

Roland died in 1992. James died in 2015.

Hinds attended Advent United Methodist Church nearly every Sunday until her death, and played bingo almost as faithfully at Santa Fe Station.

Hinds is survived by her daughter-in-law, Yolanda Cruz Hinds, of Las Vegas, and a grandson, Roland G. Hinds, of California. She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Melna Dobbs, and two brothers, Scott Richardson and Raymond Richardson.

A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m.. Jan. 15 at Advent United Methodist Church, 3460 N. Rancho Road. A later interment will be private.