Consuelo Dominguez Kirstein

Consuelo [Connie] Dominguez Kirstein | Born Sept 10th, 1947, in Weslaco, TX to Hermenejildo and Maria de Jesus Garcia Dominguez. She was the 2nd youngest of 13 brothers and sisters and graduated from Harlingen High School in 1966. Shortly after high school, in the same year of 1966, Connie joined the U.S. Air Force and served in the Philippines at Clark Air Force Base as an Air Passenger Specialist and Loadmaster. After 4yrs of service, she received an honorable discharge with rank of sergeant. If you ever knew Connie you knew she had a heart to help others, and it was this drive that led her to Valley Baptist Hospital School of Nursing where she graduated in 1971. She then worked at the Mental Health Hospital in Harlingen until joining the U.S. Army in 1972, where she served as an Army Nurse. While in the Army she met the love of her life, Kenneth Ryan Kirstein. The two were married in 1974, and then Connie received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army in 1975 with rank of Specialist Six. Throughout Connie’s life, not only did she have a strong desire to help and serve others, but she had a strong passion for pointing people to God. Her relationship with God is what motivated every good thing she did. Connie used to say, “I’m not just helping people because of a need, I am helping people out of obedience to my Heavenly Father.” Connie’s strong faith, along with the faith of her husband set them apart from many marriages. They were determined to honor and obey the voice of God in every area of life. One such act of service/obedience became one of her most memorable, in the mid-1980s, in the small town of Plainview, TX., Connie began serving as a children’s ministry director and she eventually stepped in as Asst. Principal of a Christian School. Through this short tenure, God used Connie to bless so many children and families, who still to this day celebrate her impact on their lives. Her time at this church and school helped lay spiritual foundations for many kids and families. Connie and Kenneth were blessed with three children, Jesse, born in 1975, Naomi, born in 1977, and David, born in 1978. As their kids started growing older, Connie’s focus on praying and interceding for people began to grow more and more. Throughout the 80s, while Connie’s full-time focus was on raising three kids, there was a shift in her prayer life that started to really become evident. Her prayer times became not just 20-30min moments, but sometimes hours and even days in heavy intercession with God. Through years and years of daily time in her Bible, and through much prayer and fasting, Connie became one of the most humble and powerful behind-the-scenes prayer warriors we have ever seen. To this day, people still approach the family and give testimonies of how Connie’s prayers changed their lives, and how she was their go-to when they needed a burden or care lifted to the Lord in prayer. Local ministries within Texas would even ask Connie to come to their homes and offices just to pray. She impacted so many people by simply being obedient to pray and being a servant to many. In 1995, Kenneth and Connie Kirstein began attending Eagle Mountain Church, in Newark, TX. and over their many years at EMIC they have been blessed by this church family and found ways to be a blessing in return. This past year marked 30yrs of faithful membership for Kenneth and Connie. She would call Pastors George and Terri her Pastors, Ms. Cindy Duvall & Shekinah Glory her Evangelists, and Rev. Kenneth Copeland her Prophet. She called many her teachers. Connie was a part of at least four missionary trips into Mexico. She also went on missionary trips to Latvia and Costa Rica with Embracing His Grace Ministries, where she also worked for a period of time. A little-known fact about Connie too is she loved softball and was always a home run threat. Even well into her 50s, she could hit a softball home run with ease. She was even given the nickname, Little Bambino. Another sport Connie loved was bowling. She was part of the 200 Club while serving in the U.S. Army, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and loved bowling well into her later years. Connie was also a wonderful cook, and loved preparing meals for her husband, kids, and even her church family. Just don’t ever bring up the story about the one time she accidentally burnt peppers in her kitchen, and everyone had to run outside just to breathe. Connie would use preparing meals as a way to also bless so many families in need. She truly had a heart of giving. As grandkids started coming onto the scene, Connie shifted her focus, as so many grandparents do, to loving her grandkids and spending as much time with them as possible. Each of her five grandkids were the joy of her life. All her conversations would somehow involve at least one or two stories of her grandkids. In Connie’s later years, just being in the same room with her grandkids would bring her joy and peace. Connie would always endeavor to call herself blessed, and was always thankful to God for the blessing of spending time with her grandkids. Today we celebrate Connie’s life, and while she has now passed from Earth into Heaven, it is a time of mourning for her absence here, but also a time of rejoicing that she is now in the loving arms of Heaven’s embrace, and that one day we will soon reunite with her. Connie is survived by her: husband, Kenneth Ryan, son, Jesse, and his wife Shannon; daughter, Naomi, and her husband Timothy; son, David, and his wife, Katia; five grandchildren: Emily, Maxwell, Marcus, Santiago, and Sebastian.

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Consuelo Dominguez Kirstein

September 10, 1947 - January 19, 2026