Reinhart Kind

Reinhart Kind, 91, passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of January 28, 2024 in Sarasota, Florida, due to medical complications after falling and breaking his left leg on December 23, 2023, while preparing to drive to an evening Christmas service at a local church with his beloved wife, Joan Maxine Kind. Reinhart, the youngest of three boys, was born with the name "Reinhard" on September 22, 1932, in Elberfeld, Germany, to Karl Eduard Kind, and Ruth van den Kerkhoff. The traumatic experiences of his young life growing up in Germany during the horrific years of Nazism and World War II had a lifelong impact on how he viewed the world, politics, and his fellow human beings. He was a generous-hearted man who loved travel and adventure and always enjoyed meeting new people from all walks of life. He followed current events avidly, was highly attuned to the dangers of demagoguery, xenophobia, and violent rhetoric, and was deeply troubled by the course American politics took in the year 2016 and beyond. Reinhart was devoutly religious throughout his life, and often pursued his own eclectic journey of Christianity, nurturing his private relationship to the divine while pursuing fellowship in all varieties of Christian denominations and worship rituals. It was one such experience in his late teens, a spiritual awakening while attending an American missionary outreach service, that compelled him to leave the familiarity of his native Germany and immigrate alone to the United States on board the Queen Mary in 1950. While sponsored by an American pastoral mission, he attended the Apostolic Bible College in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he met the love of his life, a young, bright-eyed, Oklahoma farm girl and fellow student named Joan Maxine. Together, they graduated, got married, and traveled back to Germany, where he pursued a career as a minister in Munich, and where to their immense joy, Joan gave birth to their first son, Thomas Larry Kind. In 1958, they returned to the United States and settled in Kansas City, Missouri. It was there that Reinhart first found his true vocational calling in the travel business. The owner of a small travel agency, Walter Campbell, took a chance and hired him as a travel agent, a career in which he thrived. Subsequently, Reinhart worked for Berry World Travel both as an agent and a tour escort and conducted tours to numerous popular destinations in the United States and Europe. In Kansas City, the young couple had two more sons, Mark Kind, and Anthony Reinhart Kind. In 1971 the family moved to Arvada, Colorado, and subsequently Reinhart started his own travel agency, Meridian Travel Ltd. of Lakewood, Colorado, with the financial backing and business advice of his friends, Ron and Lily Jones. He fostered a loyal following of customers in the Denver area, as he crafted custom individual tours to Hawaii, Mexico, and Europe with manually typed itineraries written in his own unique style that he had adapted from his days writing brochures at Berry World Travel in the 1960s. He was a kind and understanding boss who always sought to create an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect among his employees, and they returned the favor with undying loyalty and affection. It was the golden age of international travel, and in later years he often spoke with gratitude and wonder of the many amazing experiences he had as he travelled the world. Reinhart loved the beauty of nature. Growing up in Colorado, his children have many fond memories of family camping and hiking trips in the great national parks and national forests of the Rocky Mountain West. Reinhart was never happier than when he was sitting in a camp chair with a cup of coffee and a pastry, drinking in the beauty of a spectacular mountain view. During this period in Denver, he also served as pastor to a loyal group of fellow German-speaking immigrants. They often would gather at a local church on a weekend day, where he would lead the service and the singing of hymns, accompanied by his guitar and the piano playing of his devoted wife. Afterwards, they would gather at one or another's home for afternoon Kaffee and Küchen. Over the years, he and family attended church regularly in the Denver area, progressively from Redeemer Temple in the early 70s, to the First Denver Friends Church in the late 70s and early 80s, the Arvada Mennonite Church in the 80s and 90s, and the Intercession Episcopal Church in Thornton in the 2000s and 2010s. Reinhart and Joan retired around the turn of the century, and enjoyed many years of extended visits to Europe, where they often wintered in the South of France. They enjoyed gathering in Denver for French lessons on a regular basis with a small group of fellow acolytes of a local French language teacher. These informal gatherings in each other's homes were some of the social highlights of their retirement. In 2021, the combination of Joan's severe health problems and the worldwide coronavirus pandemic forced them to leave their beloved Colorado and move to the warmer climate, cleaner air, and lower altitude of Valrico, Florida, where they resided near their youngest son and his wife. Together, their son and daughter-in-law nurtured them back to better health, and they subsequently bought a home in Venice, Florida. Reinhart is survived by his loving wife of 68 years, Joan Kind, and their children: Thomas Larry Kind (Mary McCotter), Mark Kind (Jerrie Lynn Kind), Anthony Reinhart Kind (Marilyn Guion). He is also survived by his brother, Hans-Joachim Kind, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren: Deborah Kind, Sarah Walworth, Ian McCartney, Garrett Reinhart Wiens-Kind, Melanie Wiens-Kind, Lindsey Hensley (Blake), Drake Johnston, George Walworth, Corinna Walworth, Isaac Reinhart Walworth, and Aurora Rose Hensley. Reinhart was preceded in death by his father, Karl Eduard Kind, his mother, Ruth van den Kerkhoff, and his brother, Christoph Kind. Reinhart always kept in touch with his family in Germany; he leaves behind many nieces, nephews, and other family members there who miss him dearly and will always hold fond memories of him in their hearts. A funeral service to honor Reinhart's life will be held at 1 p.m. on January 31 at Gendron Funeral and Cremation Services Inc., located at 135 N. Lime Ave., Sarasota, FL. A celebration of his life will also take place in Arvada, Colorado, at a later date.

Reinhart Kind

September 22, 1932 - January 28, 2024