Bob Kinzy, 1942-2021
Tom Vosper: (From the Blaney Funeral Home Guestbook) I know Bob from high school. Wichita East class of 1960. We both took part in swimming, track and cross country. I’ll never meet a person as nice as Bob. He was and still is simply wonderful in so many way
s. When I discovered of his passing today on the East High Class of 1960 website, it set me back, and I know so many more of our classmates feel the same way. He is definitely in a better place now. God bless Bob’s family!
Jane Thompson Olsen: Bob Kinzy was such a kind and generous man as well as great fun to be around. I didn’t know Bob that well at East. We got better acquainted starting in February, 1987, when my husband Paul and I moved from Atlanta to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Paul had accepted an offer from Bob to become marketing manager in the Green Bay IBM office. During the nine plus years we lived in Green Bay, we became good friends with Bob and his wife Sally. I especially remember a night we were invited to their home for dinner. Bob met us at the front door with his East yearbook in hand saying, “You won’t believe this, Jane. We have another 1960 classmate here for dinner!” Standing out in the freezing cold, he pointed to a picture in the yearbook, asking me if I knew who that was. He was accompanying a woman from the IBM office. Neither Bob nor I knew him, but that didn’t matter. Bob was so excited that there were three of us from the East High class of 1960 in his Green Bay home. Actually, counting Sally, we had four from East. His enthusiasm was always catching. We have many great memories of Bob and the fun times we had in Green Bay.
Our last visit with Bob and Sally was for lunch in Green Bay last September. I am so thankful for that. Friends are the best!
John Deardorff: Bob was such a stand up guy. So steady and so smart. I wish I had known him in later life. I know that would have been rewarding.
Glenna Stearman Park: I was very sorry to hear about Bob’s passing. I remember him fondly as a really nice and happy guy. Bob was the kind of person who seemed to have a calm presence among a lot of teenagers who courted drama. He was a peaceful soul!
Lee Ayres: Bob was a bright light at East High. We all really enjoyed his energy at our class reunions. A true 
Green Bay Packers fan. Thanks for sharing the photos of the 1959 Cross Country Team and Swim Team Managers.
Left, Bob welcomes an old friend at a reunion, a friend he has not seen in 45 years but immediately calls her name. That was typical of him.
Marilyn Tompkins Bellert: Bob was extraordinarily kind and a fine leader from the time I first met him at age 10. In sixth grade, Chisholm Elementary School Principal Floyd Pope (Dianne’s dad) selected Bob as Captain of the Patrol Boys. The name of that outfit changed to The Patrol when we were in sixth grade as girls were added to the force. Bob trained us, including me, and directed us as we stood on the four corners of the intersections at Chisholm and stopped cars as we guided schoolkids across the streets before school, at lunch time, and after school. White bands criss-crossed our bodies, so that motorists would see us. Bob carried a whistle, but rarely had to use it. He knew the names of every one of those mini-Boomers and cheered them on for another day at school, a great role model for the rest of The Patrol. As friends at Chisholm and at Mead Intermediate, we talked a lot about baseball. He had an impressive command of stats for both major leagues. Bob was always kind and generous; he remembered and cared about friends decades after we left high school. I had hoped to see him at next fall’s reunion and am sad that he is gone.
Editor’s Note: Bob ran cross-country and track as a varsity member of at least four talented state championship teams. He is standing third from right in the photo below. During the winter seasons, he served as a team manager for the swimming team.
Fall 1959 Cross-Country Team: Dave Ware ’62, Larry Bryan ’60, Bob Ware ’60, Charles Briscoe ’60, Carl Hodges ’61, Mike McKee ’61, Bob Kinzy ’60, Eric Knorr ’60, and John Deardorff ’60.
Swim Team Managers: Charles Mattingly ’61, Bob Kinzy ’60, David Kroenlein ’60, and Dan Householder ’62.
Bob began his career as a student team manager at Mead Intermediate for the basketball team.
The important contributions to team success made by the student managers is a story that needs to be told.
Video: Bob’s wife, Sally Dye Kinzy (East ’62), wrote a story for this website about the video their family created to celebrate Bob’s life, “Bob would have loved that video!” Click here to read the story and see the video.
Obituary: Green Bay Press-Gazette, March 4, 2021
Green Bay – Robert H. “Bob” Kinzy, 78, peacefully passed away at Angel’s Touch Memory Care, surrounded by his family on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Bob was born and raised in Wichita, KS and graduated from Wichita East High School in 1960. He then attended UC-Berkeley and graduated with a degree in Forestry in 1964. Bob married Sally Dye on September 7, 1963.
In 1967, Bob started his career with IBM, which lasted 25 years. He truly enjoyed his 15 years as Branch Manager in Green Bay. After retirement, Bob joined his wife, Sally in her craft sales, “The Picture Lady” business, where they had fun traveling around Wisconsin for over 12 years.
Bob was an avid fisherman and loved his yearly trips to Canada with Sally and later his son and grandsons. He was also a great athlete, completing over ten marathons. Bob was a number one Green Bay Packers Fan. Most of all, he really loved his family and was the best husband, father, and grandfather.
Bob is survived by his wife of 57 years, Sally; his sons, Brian (Chris) Kinzy and Tim (Sarah) Kinzy; grandchildren, Sam Kinzy, Matt Kinzy, Calla Kinzy, and Spencer Kinzy.
A Celebration of Life will be planned at a later date. Expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.BlaneyFuneralHome.com, or cards may be sent to Blaney Funeral Home, 1521 Shawano Ave., Green Bay WI 54303 to the attention of Robert Kinzy’s family and they will be forwarded.
A memorial fund has been established to benefit Alzheimer’s Association Alzheimer’s Association | Donate to Fight Alzheimer’s Disease and Moments Hospice.
A special thank you is extended to the staffs of Angel’s Touch Memory Care and Moments Hospice.
A video with many photos of Bob’s life is available here or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmBn61LPWHo
An excerpt from the Blaney Guestbook for Bob Kinzy are below.
Jim and Pattie Cook: What a great, man and leader…. Bob was a cornerstone in my career. Bob was one of my first Branch Managers at IBM. One of the most Honest, Kind, and Fair individuals that has crossed my path on this earth. Some of the best days I experienced in my career were under the leadership of this man. I was so fortunate to have worked with Bob. Although he may be gone, his lessons in life and guidance will never be forgotten by this guy! God Speed my Friend!
