James Hanlin Kinzer

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Don Andrews on September 9, 2010:

Classmates, I, as Class Rep, and Mary attended the funeral service for James (Jack) H. KinzerJr., the Old Cadet Chapel and Post Cemetery at West Point on Wednesday, August 7th. Jim and Sheila Grey and their grandson Corey were also there to lend their support. Jack and I had been roommates at Marion Military Institute in Alabama before we became West Point classmates. Jim had been Jack's roommate in H-2 for several years. Jack's family members present were his wife Denyse, daughter Lisa Marie and her husband Hovig Halebi and their two daughters Talya and Mikka, brother George and his wife Barbara and their daughter Elizabeth with her husband David Vandermark and their children Henry and Eleanor and their son Michael with his daughter Lilly. Michael's wife is an emergency room nurse at Vanderbilt and was unable to attend. Denyse and Lisa live a short distance from each other in Montreal. George and his family live in the Detroit area, except for Michael who is in Vanderbilt Medical School after graduating from Duke. George has served as an Army officer and Barbara's father was a field artillery officer. George is a number of years younger than Jack and, I recalled seeing him several times when Jack's mother brought weekend picnics for us to enjoy. Col Held of the Superintendent's office and an AOG representative (Class of 1992) and another Duke grad) were also in attendance. Somewhat coincidentally, Col Held also attended Marion Institute prior to joining the Corps. The service began in the Chapel at 1330 and was conducted by US Army Reserve Chaplain Lindemeyer. A large framed photograph of Jack and a container with his ashes, brought forward by an Honor Guard member, were on the altar rail. An organist played several songs among them the Star Spangled Banner, Alma Mater and, at Denyse's request, The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha. The Chaplain did an excellent job of saying the right words. George spoke lovingly of his older brother and offered emotional recollections. After the Chapel service, we gathered in front of the Margaret Corbin monument. Flowers provided by our Class were at this site. The Honor Guard provided a folded flag which they then unfolded and held over the container of Jack's ashes. A salute was rendered and taps played. The Honor Guard then refolded the flag and it was presented to Denyse. The Guard removed the container to the Columbarium which is a room beneath the Chapel's altar. Additional prayers were said while the container was placed in its wall receptacle. Denyse, Lisa Marie and George were profoundly appreciative of the fact that we and the Greys had taken the time to attend. They all also expressed great gratitude for the many messages they had received. Mary and I encouraged Denyse to come to our reunions. All of you would immensely enjoy her. She provided two humorous stories. It seems Jack's ashes had been sent to West Point but, were lost for a month at the US-Canadian border. She said that was just like Jack. Also, while driving with Jack's ashes, she hit a hit a bump and spontaneously said "Sorry dear." George gave me both his business and home email addresses. Here is the home address in the event some of you may wish to contact him: gckinzer@earthlink.net Regards, Don Don Andrews 12 AUG 2002

admin