George Kinnell, Jr.: Curious, Adventurous, Caring
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Our beloved George Kinnell, Jr. passed away peacefully on January 9, 2024, in Little Rock, Arkansas on his way back home from a cross-country road trip.
He was born in Boston in 1960 to Judy (Evenson) and George Kinnell, Sr. After several years in Cambridge, MA and then Berkeley, CA, Judy and George, Jr. moved north to the Mendocino area, and then with step-dad Michael settled in Briceland. George was an adoring older brother to two sisters who joined the family in the early 70s.
He attended Redway Elementary and then Whitethorn School, where he developed a lifelong passion for history. He built a close relationship with several old-timers and soaked up all the local stories. His curiosity led George on many adventures, like hiking local Indian trails and searching for lost treasure or arrowheads along the way.
George spent several of his high-school years in Canyon with his dad, returning to Briceland to graduate from South Fork High School where he found friends among the rancher kids who understood what life on a self-sufficient homestead was like. He became especially involved in Future Farmers of America and learned other useful skills like welding and woodworking. He continued his studies at Santa Rosa JC to perfect his welding skills, and coming back he worked for local ranchers and friends building roads, crafting fences, welding, and creating beautiful things out of wood.
With a desire to help out and valuable skills in farming, George joined the Peace Corps. The experience was so profound he reenlisted for three tours. In Morocco he helped an orphanage become self-sufficient. In Niger he lived with the Bedouin Tuareg, and even bought his own camel, Larry. His plans to cross the Sahara with a camel caravan were cut short by civil unrest in Liberia, so he traveled through Egypt instead. On the other side of the world, in Ecuador, George worked with a traditional sheepherding community.
Wherever George went, he learned the local language – he became conversant in Arabic, French, Berber, and Spanish. His love for travel was matched by an equal love of history, and his trips were planned around visits to the places he read about in his favorite books, from Civil War battlefields to historic sites in England and continental Europe. As soon as he would raise enough money for a trip, he’d be off on the next three-month adventure.
Later, he found steady employment at Pacific Livestock in the Bay Area, where he could also be closer to his ailing father and his Canyon community. George loved working on the ranch, and was responsible for transporting live animals between Oakland and Honolulu aboard huge container ships.
When his father’s health failed, George spent several years as his full-time caregiver. After his father’s passing in 2022, George acquired a Great Pyrenees puppy, Bear, who became his constant companion. Together, Bear and George embarked on an epic adventure across the US to bring his father’s ashes to his birthplace in Massachusetts. Along the way, they visited historic sites and basked in the attention showered on this unusual pair: a giant man with his enormous fluffy white dog. George fulfilled his promise to his dad and started heading back west. Stopping for a night in Little Rock, Arkansas, George died peacefully in his sleep with his loving Bear at his side.
George leaves behind his mother, Judy, step-father Michael, sisters Freya and Rebekah and their families, many step-aunts and uncles and cousins, and dear friends all over the world.
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