Vern Kinner

Albert Vernon Kinner, a retired business executive and Air Force Officer, as well as community volunteer, died peacefully, on Friday, February 20, 2015 in Pensacola, FL, surrounded by his family.

Mr. Kinner entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1946; upon graduation in 1950 he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the newly formed United States Air Force. He completed pilot training in 1951 and served as a pilot on active duty for six years after which he entered the Air Force Reserve. He served in the Reserve in various capacities until his retirement in 1983 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

During his thirty-eight year business career, Mr. Kinner resided in Larchmont, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Westlake, Ohio. He served as a senior executive with both Uniroyal, Inc. in New York City and Detroit and then with the Standard Products Co. in Cleveland and Dearborn, MI.

Mr. Kinner enjoyed many sports, both as a participant and as a spectator; he was an avid tennis player and golfer. Vern took great pleasure in music, especially singing in many different choral groups: choirs, glee clubs, barbershop quartets, Broadway musicals and more recently, with the Elk Rapids Presbyterian Church choir and the Elk Rapids Community Chorus. He was an active volunteer throughout his life, serving as a Boy Scout Leader, Little League Baseball, and football coach, board member and president of Parent Teacher Organizations, and as a Parish Council member. Following his retirement to Traverse City in 1994, he became a SCORE member, counseling small business owners and entrepreneurs. He also was a Probate Court Volunteer, working primarily on behalf of the youth and the elderly of the area.

Vern Kinner was born in Reno, NV on April 22, 1927, the second son of Albert Victor and Eleanor Lee Kinner. He lived in Sparks NV until 1945 when he entered the University of Nevada at Reno, leaving to enter West Point in 1946, graduating with the class of 1950. He married Ann McDermott Kinner in 1951 in Larchmont. She died in Grosse Pointe Park in 1966 where they were living.

In 1968, in Grosse Pointe Park, MI, Vern Kinner, a widower, with 3 children, married Connie Cardoze, a widow with 5 children. The children’s ages in the combined families ranged from 6 to 16. This marriage ended in 1994 in Cleveland, OH.

After moving to Traverse City, Vern met Holli Ringgenberg who became the love of his life, travel companion, best friend and subsequently his wife. He is survived by her, his sons Albert Vernon, Jr., and William McDermott Kinner, his daughter, Jo Ann Engles, his stepsons, Rick Cardoze, Steven Cardoze and John Ringgenberg, his stepdaughters, Caren Cichon, Anne Welburn, Julie Cortelezzi, Marianne Ringgenberg and Heidi Clark, his brothers Richard and Kenneth Kinner as well as 22 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 3 pm with visitation starting at 2 pm, at Covell Funeral Home in Traverse City. Inurnment will be in the cemetery at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made with gratitude to Dakoske Hall in Traverse City.

Please share your condolences and fond memories of Mr. Kinner at www.CovellFuneralHomes.com.

Arrangements were entrusted to Covell Funeral Home in Traverse City.

“And when our work is done,

Our course on earth is run,

May it be said, ‘well done’,

Be thou at peace.”

-West Point Alma Mater.