John Robertson Kinnett Jr.

On August 15, 2017, after a brief illness, John Robertson Kinnett, Jr. died peacefully at Columbus Hospice House surrounded by his family. He was a man to whom his Christian faith and all expressions of it (mission, church involvement, etc.) were his highest priority. Close behind was his belief that families are one’s greatest gift from God.

John Kinnett was born on April 4, 1927, in Columbus to Mildred Frazer Kinnett and John Robertson Kinnett. He was preceded in death by his parents, his beloved wife of 63 years, Betty Bright Blackmon, his sister, Kathryn Kinnett Adams, and his grandson John Thomason Oliver, IV. He is survived by his six children Claire Kinnett Tate (John) of Charlotte, North Carolina, Bright Kinnett Wright (Robert) of Atlanta, Frazer Kinnett Loomis (Cory) of Columbus, Jean Kinnett Oliver (John) of Birmingham, John Robertson (“Bob”) Kinnett, III (Laura) of Columbus, and Josephine (“Jodie”) Kinnett Klumpenhower (Jack) of Durango, Colorado as well as his grandchildren Elizabeth Loomis, Cory Loomis (Danielle), Kinn Loomis (Katrina), Bright Vandervoet (Tim), Austin Tate (Alli), Robert Wright, Jr. (Rebekah), Neill Wright, Rives Oliver, Sara Oliver, Martha Lane Kinnett, Jeannie DeLoach (Jack), Sarah Burnett (David Alan), Jack Kinnett, Will Klumpenhower, and Anna Klumpenhower, and 9 great-grandchildren. Many beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins also survive him.

John Kinnett grew up in Columbus, attended the Columbus public schools, enrolled at Georgia Tech for one year but left to serve one year in the U. S. Navy in the Pacific, and graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in Industrial Management in 1949. After graduating from Georgia Tech, John Kinnett returned to Columbus, married Betty, and joined his father in the family business, Kinnett Dairies, Inc. (“the Dairy” or “Kinnett’s”).

He was a lifelong Presbyterian and spent all of his 90 years as an active member of First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, where he served numerous terms as a deacon and ruling elder. Like his mother, John Kinnett taught Sunday School for high school students for more than 30 years. He believed that his call in that setting was to provide these students with the spiritual foundation that would guide them when they left Columbus and went out into the world. An additional and very important part of his Christian witness was being a faithful advocate for mission, both global and local. In addition to visits to missionaries in Mexico and Brazil, he travelled to Moscow to help First Presbyterian Church establish a mutual partnership with a church there. John Kinnett for many years considered it a great honor to serve on the board of the Outreach Foundation, an organization founded to further the Great Commission by supporting mission and missionaries across the globe.

John Kinnett was also a deeply-committed patriot, and he took great pride in having had an opportunity to serve in the U.S. Navy in the very final days of World War II as a naval corpsman in the Pacific. He valued the opportunity to support Fort Benning and the troops stationed there, hosting officers from other countries temporarily stationed at Ft. Benning, inviting them into his home regularly for dinners and family occasions. Because he also wanted his children to understand the importance of patriotism and the need to support his country, he, Betty, and their children enjoyed celebrating the parades, music, and demonstrations at Ft. Benning on the Fourth of July, Armed Services Day, and other patriotic holidays for many years. John Kinnett also proudly joined his Angel Flight group with many Columbus friends when they were honored in Washington, D.C. His patriotism was also evidenced by his belief in actively participating in the political process by supporting candidates for office and never failing to vote.

In 1956 at the age of 29, John Kinnett became the General manager and assumed the day- to-day responsibilities of the Dairy and then became President in 1962. For the next 35 years under his leadership, the Dairy became one of the leading independent milk and ice cream processors in the country, in part due to the wise decision based upon the suggestion of John Kinnett‘s long-time friend and right-hand Jim Prescott to acquire the Baskin-Robbins franchise for the 5 southeastern states. Several decades later in 1998, responding to an offer from Parmalat and sensing that the timing was right, John Kinnett and the Dairy Board decided that it was time to sell the family business, and John Kinnett retired. While involved with the Dairy, Kinnett enjoyed participating in the Young President’s Organization, the Dixie Dairy Association, the Southern Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers, and the International Ice Cream Association which he served as a director and then President.

Before and after his retirement, John lived out his belief that one should not only support institutions in which one believed not just by one’s words or financial contributions but by active participation. He therefore valued opportunities to participate both in the local Columbus community, as well as beyond. He was an active member of the Columbus Rotary, and a supporter of the Columbus Museum, the Historic Columbus Foundation, the Community Foundation for the Chattahoochee Valley, the Columbus Boys/Girls’ Club, the Historic Springer Foundation, the Columbus Jaycees, and St. Francis Hospital.

Beyond Columbus, John Kinnett also served on the boards of Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, and Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. Because he and Betty had long appreciated the formative impact on their 5 daughters from their summer experiences at Camp Merrie - Woode in North Carolina, John Kinnett and Betty were instrumental in helping establish the Camp Merrie-Woode Foundation in 1978. This establishment of this Foundation insured that the camp experience be available to many more in the future.

John also loved history, and, in his later years, spent hours tracing his family history and his English and Scottish roots. In his early 80’s, still eager to understand his roots (which he proudly described as a family of “lint-head” textile workers in the cotton mills of England and Scotland,) he travelled to Manchester, England and the suburb of Oldham to see firsthand his family records. Until he could no longer do so, he enjoyed frequent travel with his wife and sometimes his friends or grandchildren, both inside the U.S. and in Europe and South America. In his last weeks, he was travelling weekly to Lee County and Smith’s Station, Alabama, to visit the homes, churches, and cemeteries where his ancestors are buried.

The highlight of John Kinnett’s life was spending time with his wife, children, and extended family. Of special significance was the annual family Beach gathering every summer in Florida, which was begun and rarely missed by his parents during their lives. Betty, their children, grandchildren, sister Kathryn Adams, her husband Ed, their children, and their families always tried to be present. His life was also characterized by an enjoyment of all music: from group singing of old hymns, World War II songs and music of the 40’s and 50’s, as well as regularly listening to classical pieces and the Saturday afternoon opera from the Met.

In addition to his family, John Kinnett especially enjoyed the comradery of his friends and his wife’s friends (including “The Bridge Club,”) including his weekly tennis group for many decades, his investment and study clubs, his poker group. and, more recently, the Rose Hill lunch group. From the early influence of his time spent at the YMCA as a boy, John Kinnett enjoyed sports during his life, including tennis, boxing, basketball, and football. Most Saturdays during his life were spent either attending Georgia Tech football games, or watching football games on television.

John Kinnett’s life and witness will be celebrated at a service at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 19, 2017, at the First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, preceded by a private family burial at Linwood Cemetery. Immediately following the service, the family will enjoy visiting with friends in the church Johnson Gathering Hall.

The family wishes to thank their family members, friends, and caregivers for their many kindnesses and loving support over the past few years. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Columbus (1100 First Avenue, Columbus, GA 31901, www.columbusfpc.org) or to the Outreach Foundation, 381 Riverside Drive, Ste. 110, Franklin, Tennessee 37604 (www.theoutreachfoundation.org).

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