George R. Kinley

George Kinley, 84, long-time Des Moines businessman and former Majority Leader for the Iowa Senate, passed away on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 surrounded by family. There will be a visitation from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Friday, March 4, 2022 at Christ the King Catholic Church, 5711 S.W. 9th St., where he served as a trustee for ten years. Visitation will be followed by a Mass and immediately after, family and close friends are invited to a luncheon at Glen Oaks Country Club, due to Wakonda Club being closed for maintenance where Kinley was the longest living member. He was a member for 63 years. A private burial will be at Resthaven Mausoleum in West Des Moines.

In a recent interview, Kinley said he believed he was the longest surviving business owner on Fleur Drive. He owned and operated Kinley's Golf & Sports across from the Des Moines International Airport. He acquired the original property in 1954 while in his late teens.

Kinley’s Golf & Sports was a driving range where Kinley worked when he bought it for $40,000. The purchase required approval by his father, Raymond F. Kinley, because young Kinley was a minor. George used as seed money a $10,000 settlement after being thrown through the windshield in a car accident when he was 16. Kinley carried facial scars for life.

Naturally gregarious, with a quick smile introducing a hearty laugh, Kinley gravitated toward politics on the city’s Democratic south side and was elected to the Iowa House in 1970. Two years later, he won the state Senate seat vacated when John Tapscott ran for Governor.

Kinley’s facility for finding middle ground stood out and he was elected Majority Leader, leading the Senate Democratic caucus from 1975 to 1978. He regularly reached out to his counterpart in the House, Democratic Majority Leader Jerry Fitzgerald of Fort Dodge, as well as across the aisle to then Senate Majority Leader Clifton Lamborn of Maquoketa and other Republicans, sharing dinner that would often include their wives. Or, Kinley said, “We’d go out in the evening and have a drink, and go out and fight like hell in the morning. That’s pretty much disappeared.”

In its place - at state and national levels - has come extreme partisanship, he said, and the practice of granting a “fair hearing” to those in the minority has been largely lost. Rare, too, are small kindnesses. He recalled Lamborn leaving Kinley’s name as the sole sponsor on the fuel and time-saving right turn on red light bill. At the time, he was a freshman Senator in the minority and the usual practice would have been to remove his name in favor of a “committee bill.” Another time, he remembered, two Democratic Senators, in a last-ditch effort to move certain legislation, were blocking him from adjourning the session for the year until Lamborn rescued the Republican votes. Kinley, who delighted in an afternoon at the racetrack, also cited the parimutuel betting and the bottle deposit bills among his legislative successes. While lamenting today’s partisanship, he wasn’t shy about angling for advantage: Senators who sat in the decrepit sofa facing his office desk sunk to the floor, looking up to see Kinley staring them down. Leading a bare 26-24 Democratic majority, he wasn’t known as a policy wonk, but as a good vote counter who knew the personalities of his caucus. “He had a tough situation -26-24- not much margin for error,” said former House Leader Fitzgerald, now 80. “He was a strong leader. He was thoughtful. He wasn’t quick to give his word, but when he did give his word, it mattered.” Though Kinley spent 22 years in the Iowa Legislature, he later came to support term limits of 12 years. After a while, too many lawmakers place a higher priority on getting re-elected than pressing needed legislation, he said. “You need new thinking, new blood.”

With his business rapidly growing, Kinley stepped out of leadership in 1979, believing he could not do justice to them both. The golf shop’s continuing success led Kinley to see a political future statewide, and he ran for Governor in 1986. That bid failed. “I found out not everyone plays golf,” he said dryly. “We were not well known.”

George Raymond Kinley was born in Akron, Ohio on June 4, 1937, to Marie and Raymond Kinley, who worked for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. In 1947, the family moved to Des Moines when his father was named a division manager.

George Kinley graduated from Dowling High School, where he lettered in golf four years, and earned a BA in sociology from Drake University in 1960. For years he played in regional golf tournaments, he said, “finishing in the top ten in a lot of them” but only “winning one…maybe.”

Kinley married Carolyn Pritchard in 1958 and together they had four children; Raymond (Michel), Frank, Elizabeth (Gary), and Kathryn who tragically died in a car accident in 2017. George and Carolyn divorced in 2007. Other survivors include brothers, Raymond (Sarah), Richard (Judy), Jack (deceased); sisters, Kay (Chuck) and Martha (James, deceased); grandchildren, Kassie, James, and Myra; five great-grandchildren; Domenik, Kaden, Davontae, Alexia, & Vincent; one great-great grandson, Domenik Jr.; as well as numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to a fund supporting great-grandson Kaden, who suffered brain injuries in the accident in which his grandmother, Kathryn was killed. Contributions may be sent to: Carolyn Kinley, 1924 Willowmere Drive, Des Moines, 50315.

Said George Kinley: “It’s been one hell of a journey!” The family would like to extend their gratitude to Norm Brewer for his contribution in putting together the obituary, to nephew Mike for his dedication and loyalty for the past 25 years at the golf shop, to Jennifer, and to the staff at Edgewater, especially Rhonda.