William Heath Kinne

With great sadness we announce the passing of Bill Kinne, a kind and loving husband, brother, uncle and friend. Bill is survived by his loving wife Olga, sister Margaret (Tony), niece Roxanna, nephew Anthony, sisters-in-law Martha and Natalie (Heinz), and many cousins.

Bill had simple tastes and enjoyed life’s simple pleasures – doing crosswords, reading his National Geographic, getting together at Tim Hortons with some buddies. Before his health declined he took advantage of opportunities to travel, accompanying Olga on a memorable visit to the Soviet Union in 1987; spending weekends in Seattle with Natalie and Heinz in the early nineties; enjoying a few days on Galiano Island every summer. We still laugh about the time patrons at a dinner theatre in Seattle mistook him for Mel Torme.

Bill valued family. He enjoyed family get-togethers at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and catching up with his sister when she visited from Australia. The isolation imposed by Covid was hard on Bill – he missed the social interactions, the friendly back and forth banter, the fun he had landing one of his corny puns.

Bill was kind and dependable; his mother used to call him her Rock of Gibraltar. After his health declined and he lost some of his independence, he grew to appreciate what others did for him. Olga will treasure the letters he wrote to her on her birthdays, expressing his gratitude for her devotion to him. Olga and Bill were a part of each other’s lives for 50 years; they were married for 48. He will be deeply missed.

Bill absorbed one of life’s most important lessons. He knew that if family is there for you, you have everything. He used to call his wife and her sisters the ‘Three Musketeers.’ We believe he took comfort in knowing that after he was gone, Olga would be in good hands. Olga’s mother also understood the importance of family.

The following poem, written by Natalie, expresses this:

Mother

before she died

our mother told us

to be there

for one another

she began life

with nothing

but the words

of her mother:

Your life will be hard, child

yet she left us

words of gold