A few weeks ago I walked along the beautiful six-kilometre waterfront heritage trail in Barrie, Ontario. The trail, around Kempenfelt Bay, was the brainchild of Willard Kinzie, the mayor of Barrie from 1957-1961. Barrie was incorporated in 1959 so Kinzie was the first mayor of the City of Barrie. At the end of the trail, there is a bronze cast of Willard's hand so you can give him a high five.
Willard Kinzie was the cousin of my husband's father, Clifford Kinzie. They shared a common ancestor, Joseph Kinsie, who was born in 1811 near Quakertown, Bucks County PA. Several Mennonite families came to Waterloo County from Pennsylvania in the early 1800s.
Joseph's first wife Barbara died at the age of 37, shortly after the birth of her 7th child. My husband's family descended from this union. Joseph remarried and had 5 more children with Magdelena. Willard's grandfather was one of her sons. It is interesting that the surnames Kinzie and Kinsie were used interchangeably within this family.
Willard Kinzie was born in Blair (Cambridge) Ontario in September 1919. My father-in-law, Clifford, was born in August 1918 in a nearby community that is now part of Kitchener. Willard moved to Barrie in 1947 and purchased Lakeview Dairy the same year. He ran the dairy until 1975.
There are eleven interpretive stations along the trail which tell the history of the area from the last ice age to the present time. This tribute to Willard is at station eight, which is called "People".
Willard Kinzie married Ruth Snider in 1942. She became Ruth Kinzie and she had three children. Many people over the years have told me about her when they realize we share the same name. She died in 2011 after suffering for many years with Alzheimer's disease.
Willard wanted to live to see 100 years but died in 2018 at the age of 99. He is buried in Cambridge near his birthplace. I never met him, but am sure I would have enjoyed walking the trail with him and listening to his stories.
The waterfront trail was busy at 7 AM with walkers and joggers of all ages. Apparently, the mayor of Barrie will lead a community walk of the trail each year on September 26th, Willard's birthday.
(source) I am sure Willard would be pleased to see the citizens of Barrie continuing to enjoy his fulfilled vision.
[The genealogical information in this post is from an extensive database at generations.regionofwaterloo.ca Willard Kinzie's page is at this link and includes an interesting article from The Barrie Examiner, written when he turned 95.]
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