The Valparaiso Vidette-Messenger
October 13, 1960
Page 1
----------
LEO KINMAN, OF V-M STAFF,
DIES
----------
Leo
M. Kinman, 59. a
member
of The Vidette-
Messenger advertising department
and
one of the
state's
outstanding figures
in
political and editorial
circles,
died at 12:05 p. m.
Wednesday
at Hines Veterans
Administration hospital,
Hines, Ill., after a lingering
illness. He resided
here
at 208 Washington
street.
Kinman
had been released
from
the hospital last Friday following
surgery for an internal
disorder.
He became critically
ill
Tuesday afternoon and was
rushed
by ambulance to Hines,
where
he failed to respond to
emergency
surgery.
In
the newspaper business,
both
editorial and commercial,
for
40 years, Kinman came to
Valparaiso
in August, 1951, when
he
assumed his position in The Vidette-Messenger's advertising
department.
In recent months
because
of his talent as a political
writer
and observer, he
wrote
the outstanding and always
interesting
column "It Seems To
Me."
Started In Bloomlngton
No
more imposing array of rewards
for business, editorial and
political
ability were ever bestowed
upon
a native Hoosier
than
were achieved by Leo Kinman.
Born
in Tennyson, Ind., June
19,
1901, the son of J. P. and Eliza
Ellen
(Fleener) Kinman, his first
contact
with printer's ink was in
Bloomington,
Ind., where he
quickly
rose from an apprentice
to
an ad compositor. After gaining
added
knowledge at Chippewa
Falls,
Wis., and Harvard, Ill.
Kinman
came to Shelbyville where
for
a span of 23 years he gained
the
stature which stamped him
as
one of the state's outstanding
Republicans
and newspapermen.
Career Varied
During
his tenure in Shelbyville,
Kinman
served from ad
compositor
to advertising manager
of
the Shelbyville Republican;
advertising
manager of the
Shelbyville
Democrat, editor-in-chief
of
the Shelbyville Republican;
and
managing editor and
(continued on page 6,
column B)
chief
editorial writer for the two
papers
which merged as the independent
Shelbyville
News.
Starting
in 1944 and for three
consecutive
terms he was elected
chairman
of the Shelby county
Republican
party. He was a
member
of Shelbyville board of
education
from 1937-40; manager
of
radio station WSRK in Shelbyville
in
1948-49; and operated a
commercial
printing plant there
for
two years before coming to
Valparaiso
in 1951.
Headed GOP Papers
Honored
for his services
throughout
the slate, Kinman
served
as president of the Republican
Editorial association 1944-45,
and
to date is believed to be the
only
editor in the state to three
times
win the Republican State
committee's
trophy for the best
editorial
of the year and best service
to
the party.
In
recognition for his public efforts
Kinman
served 10 years on
the
board of the State Department
of
Public Welfare, holding the
post
of president from 1947-48. He
was initially appointed in 1944
by
Gov. Gates, with reappointments
by
both Gates .and Gov.
Henry Schricker.
His
talent as a political writer
attracted
the attention of Sen.
William
E. Jenner, for whom he
managed
a successful candidacy
to
the United States Senate in
1946. He also wrote publicity for
Sen.
Jenner's 1948 gubernatorial
candidacy,
writing many of his
speeches
both political and non-
political.
In
1944 Kinman was appointed
to
the Republican convention platform
committee.
In Politics Book
It
was befitting to this man,
who
had devoted his talents to
state
and community, that he be
paragraphed
in "Who's Who in
U.
S. Polities" in 1950.
He
was a member of the Valparaiso
First
Presbyterian church,
Elks
club, American Legion and
40
and 8 service organizations.
Surviving
are a son, M/Sgt.
Wilford
Kinman, Holloman Air
Force
base, New Mexico; a grandson,
Woody
Lee Kinman; and a
brother,
Col. Guy Kinman, USAR,
Fayetteville,
Ark. His wife, Ruby,
two
brothers and two sisters preceded
him in death.
Rites On Saturday
Funeral
services will be held
in
the Bartholomew Funeral home
at
10 a. m. Saturday, with the
Rev.
Oliver Stern, First Presbyterian
church,
officiating.
Pallbearers
will be Avery B.
Weaver, Robert L. Bibler, Vince
Anderson, Charles Keller, Dwaine
Willett
and Rollie Barnhart.
The
body will be taken to
Shelbyville,
where graveside services
will be held in Blue Ridge
cemetery
at 3 p. m. (CDT).
Friends
.may call at the Bartholomew
Funeral home after 4 p. m. Friday.
EULOGY TO LEO
He
was a great man; a man
with
a great reputation; yet his
greatness
was not born on egotism. His
smile was for the big
and
the small; his helping hand
for
everyone without thought of
remuneration. He was polite, gallant,
forever
thoughtful of the
feelings
of others. He walked
with
a military straightness even
when
severe pain wracked his
body.
His was a pride and a
character
which Our Maker bestows
on
few men. May God grant
you
peace, Leo. We'll all miss
you.
— A V-M Staffer.
Contributed by John Ballard
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