Leap Day baby born in Crown Point, great grandfather from Goshen
Feb. 29—CROWN POINT — The great-granddaughter of a late Goshen man was a 2024 "Leap Day baby."
Carly Dobin, DeMotte, gave birth to her daughter, Molly Grace, just after midnight on this Leap Day at Franciscan Health Crown Point. Carly's late grandfather, Goshen native Martin Kinney, was also a Leap Year baby.
Kinney, who passed away last February, would be 96 today.
"Carly's mother, Kathy O'Connor of Hebron, said her father loved his Leap Year birthday," a news release stated.
"The late Crown Point man had a law practice in Merrillville and like his great-granddaughter, made news with his birth when he was featured on the front page of the newspaper in Goshen, the day he was born."
According to his obituary from Burns Funeral Home and Crematory, after graduating from Goshen High School in 1946, Kinney attended Goshen College for two years and then enlisted in the US Army, serving in Germany during the reconstruction period. He received both his bachelor's degree and law degree from Indiana University, where he met his wife of 64 years, Angeline.
He began his legal career as an Assistant United States Attorney, and later joined the law firm of his father-in-law, Louis H. George, where he practiced for many years before establishing his own law practice in Merrillville. During this time, he also served on the Merrillville Conservancy District as well as the Crown Point Library board, and was an elder for several years at the First Presbyterian Church in Crown Point.
The chances of being born on a Leap Day, Feb. 29, are only one in 1,461 or .068%, as Leap Year comes only once every four years. People born on Leap Day are referred to as "leaplings" or "leapers."
Worldwide, there are only about 5 million people with a Feb. 29 birthday, representing less than .1% of the population.
"Franciscan Health Family Birth Centers acknowledged the special birthdays with onesies and matching knitted frog hats for the Leap Day babies," the release added.
According to the Associated Press, Leap Year came about because ancient civilizations had calendars that made periodic corrections to realign with lunar and solar cycles.
But it was Julius Caesar who put into practice what we now consider leap years back in 46 BC. In large part, the idea was to keep the months in sync with annual events, including equinoxes and solstices.
Pope Gregory XIII in the late 16th century calibrated further. His Gregorian calendar remains in use today. He wanted to make sure the time for Easter didn't drift on the calendar.
Franciscan Alliance has Family Birth Centers in its local hospitals at Franciscan Health Crown Point, Franciscan Health Dyer, Franciscan Health Michigan City and Franciscan Health Olympia Fields.
To learn more, visit www.franciscanhealth.org.
Steve Wilson is news editor for The Goshen News. You can reach him at steve.wilson@goshennews.com.
