Born: November 28, 1942
Died: February 28, 1997
Married: Sally Kinville
Children: Michael Kinville, Kim Kinville
Bill Kinville was the owner and operator the Amusement & Vending Company, started by his father, Earl Kinville.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 3, 1997
William 'Bill' Kinville
SARANAC LAKE - William "Bill" Kinville, 54, of 43 Woodruff Street here, died Friday Feb. 28, 1997 at the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake. Born Nov. 28, 1942, he was the son of Earl and Josephine (Prue) Kinville.
A lifelong resident of Saranac Lake, he was the owner and operator the Amusement & Vending Co.
Mr. Kinville was a member of the Harrietstown Planning Review Board, and the Saranac Lake River Corridor Commission. He was chairman of the Harrietstown Assessment Review Board and a member of the Saranac Lake Moose Club.
Mr. Kinville helped establish and was once a part-owner of the River Edge Mall in Saranac Lake. He was also instrumental in establishing the St. Joseph's Out Patient Clinic on Woodruff Street. He was an active supporter of the Carmelite Monastery. He also was well-known as a car enthusiast.
Survivors include a son, Michael Kinville of Saranac Lake; a daughter, Kim Kinville of Rutland, Vt.; his father of Saranac Lake; a sister, Mrs. Roy (Joan) Gullicksen of Saranac Lake; his longtime companion, Nancy Terry of Redford; his former wife, Sally Kinville of Saranac Lake; and three nieces.
Calling hours will be held Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A Bible vigil service will be held at the funeral home at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday at St. Bernard's Church in Saranac Lake with the Rev. Christopher Carrara officiating. Burial will be in St. Bernard's Cemetery in May.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Carmelite Monastery in care of the funeral home.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 4, 1997
Saranac Lake has lost a really good friend The community remembers William 'Bill' Kinville
By LARRY RULISON
Enterprise Staff Writer
SARANAC LAKE - Friends remember local businessman William Kinville as a man who gave much of his time and money to ordinary people but didn't seek the spotlight. He died Friday at the age of 54 after a history of heart problems.
"He was a very giving person," said Donald Fina, a friend and former village police chief. "A lot of stuff (he did) will never be known. He wasn't a person to want the recognition."
Kinville was the owner and operator of the Amusement & Vending Co. and had also developed several properties in the area. He was also a member of the Harrietstown Planning Board and Assessment Board of Review and the Saranac Lake River Corridor Commission. But according to his friends, much of what he did will go unnoticed, because Kinville wasn't the type to seek praise.
One of those causes was the cloistered Carmelite Monastery on Franklin Avenue. David Greenier, a longtime friend, says Kinville would regularly buy groceries for the Carmelite nuns.
"He always had the Carmelites in mind," Fina said.
Fina described Kinville as a businessman "with a golden touch." Kinville and Philip Lalande were partners in efforts to buy up and renovate several properties on Woodruff Street, including one building which eventually became the St. Joseph's Outpatient Clinic.
"He made Woodruff Street look pretty great," Greenier said.
Greenier said Kinville would give whenever he could. When someone would come to his home selling raffle tickets, he'd buy a half dozen.
"He just did it; he just liked a lot of people," Greenier said. "That was his way of paying (them) back."
Kinville will also be remembered for his work on the Harrietstown Board of Assessment Review where he was viewed as a voice against what some — especially waterfront owners — think are unfair assessment practices in the town.
Miles Van Nortwick, Jr. got to know Kinville when .the new town-wide assessments became a heated issue in 1995. Van Nortwick was interested in the issue and sought Kinville out for insight.
"I was very impressed with Bill," Van Nortwick said.
Like others, Van Nortwick knew that Kinville gave a lot in the community but rarely sought attention for what he did.
"A lot of things nobody knew about," Van Nortwick said. "He was really concerned about Saranac Lake."
Sue Dyer knew Kinville from back in the days when she was executive director of the Chamber of Commerce.
"He was always the first one to give to a project," Dyer said. "He was a man who loved his community, and he's going to be really missed by lots of us. I'm really, really upset about it. Saranac Lake has lost a really good friend."
Dyer also remembered Kinville for his work on the Assessment Board of Review.
"He knew what was right and he knew what was wrong, and he took a stand," Dyer said. "This man knew right from wrong and followed his conscience." For Kinville, giving was natural, Dyer said. But seeking recognition was not.
"It was not that (giving) was a special thing to do; it was the (only) thing to do," she said.
Linda Piro says Kinville was a father figure to her son Matthew, back when she was a divorced mother just trying to get by on $80 a week. She said that many people might not have liked Kinville's arcade on Woodruff Street, but that he took many of those boys under his wings.
Kinville used to talk to her son on the CB and drive around town with him in his convertible. Piro says her son, who is now a chef, will be coming back to the village for the funeral. For him, she says, it will be like the passing of a father.
"He (was) a good guy," Greenier said. "(He's) done a lot for a lot of people."
"He had a good sense of" humor," Fina said. "(It's) his sense of humor I'm always going to remember him for... that and his caring for the people."
