David Kinne, history teacher and construction contractor, dies

Tony Roberts, Baltimore Sun
·3 min read

David Kinne, a history teacher who later worked as a construction contractor, died of complications from a fall while visiting his daughter Feb. 13 in Maui, Hawaii. He was 77.

David Amsden Kinne was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Sydney Barton Kinne Jr., a forestry manager, and Ellerie Edwards Kinne, a homemaker. He had an older brother, Sydney Kinne.

Mr. Kinne and his brother grew up separately, with his brother living in Rome, Georgia, while Mr. Kinne was in Baltimore, said Mr. Kinne’s daughter, Laura Kinne.

“Due to the distance, they didn’t get to see each other very much. But, they called each other and sent cards for holidays and special occasions,” his daughter said. “I remember my childhood as taking trips down to Rome, Georgia, to see my uncle.”

Mr. Kinne graduated from Florida State University with a degree in history and pursued, but did not finish, graduate studies in history at the University of Kentucky.

He started teaching history at The Park School in Pikesville in 1969. While there, Mr. Kinne met and fell in love with Carol Peacock Kinne in 1971. They shared a commitment to racial equity and civil rights.

After leaving Park in 1974, Mr. Kinne started a contracting company, Sunrise Contractors. That same year, he lost a leg to cancer, his daughter said.

“My father was a perfect example of a good man who loved his family and friends,” said Andrew Kinne, Mr. Kinne’s son. “He taught me what it means to overcome life’s challenges with grace.”

Mr. Kinne worked for several building supply companies before joining The Manekin Corp., a commercial real estate company, where he remained for 29 years.

“David was the first person on-site and the last to leave,” said Donald Manekin, a partner at Manekin and a close friend. “Whether David oversaw work in Columbia or Northern Virginia, where he would leave Baltimore at 4:30 in the morning to be on the job site, his efforts were tireless.”

Mr. Kinne and his wife worked with students and faculty from Park, Baltimore City College and Baltimore City Neighbors schools to raise funds for trips to sites significant in the Civil Rights Movement.

Students met people ranging from Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., to Rep. John Lewis of Georgia.

“Whether he was booking hotels for our yearly trips, sending books to enhance students’ learning, arriving hours before the students to survey our leaf-raking jobs with doughnuts and hot cocoa in tow, and working alongside them, David’s support was invaluable,” Traci Wright, Park School’s Upper School principal and co-founder of the trip, said.

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Mr. Kinne was an avid reader of American history and kept up with current events.

He also loved his annual trips to Maui to visit his daughter and her family. In the summers, he would visit one of his cabins in Birch Point on the Maine coast and study the history of the lobster and fishing businesses.

Mr. Kinne sat on several boards, including Families Adopting Children Everywhere and The Waldorf School of Maryland.

Mr. Kinne is survived by his daughter, Laura Kinne-Pal, of Maui; his son, Andrew David Kinne, of Baltimore; and three grandchildren.

His wife, Carol Peacock Kinne, died in 2014. He was also predeceased by his brother, Sydney Kinne.

Plans for a memorial service this spring are incomplete.