Mike Kinard remembered for inspiring others and dedication to community

Mike Kinard was many things to many people.

For Aleeya Hubbard-Kinard, it wouldn’t be until eighth grade that she would start to learn all about the well-known Wichita figure whom she would come to know as Dad. After serving as a mentor and father-figure through secondary school, Mr. Kinard adopted Hubbard-Kinard and helped see her through college.

“He was one of those people that you could just meet him and kinda fell in love with him,” said Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers, who served on the Wichita School Board with Mr. Kinard. “He was really interested in you. He would find out how you were doing … He was just a relationship person. I know he mentored a lot of people. He was always concerned for the community he came from, the community as a whole. I think his deep concern for people is what won you over really quickly.”

Mr. Kinard, 58, died Wednesday morning with his daughter and brother at his side after a battle with cancer.

Mr. Kinard was born Oct. 26, 1961, and grew up in a military family. His father served in the U.S. Air Force and met his mother while stationed in Tokyo, according to his brother Gary Kinard.

In a 2001 story about being named a 40 under 40 in The Wichita Business Journal, Mr. Kinard said his father was his mentor. He also said his favorite book was the Bible.

The family moved around before landing back in Wichita in time for him to go to Wichita Heights High School, where his prowess at football led The Eagle to name him to the all-city defensive football team in 1978. He went on to play at Friends University and earned a bachelor’s degree in business in 1986, the same year he ran for the Sedgwick County Commission.

It was his first run at office, according to a chronology of his life on his photography website.

He later ran for the Wichita City Council and the commission again and volunteered with CASA of Sedgwick County and served on the boards with the Greater Wichita YMCA and Urban League of Kansas.

His time with the Wichita School Board from 2001 to 2005 was filled with overseeing the best use for spending the $284.5 million bond passed the year before.

It was the largest in school and state history at that time, according to former board Connie Dietz.

Kinard was influential in the naming of Abner Val Jean Jackson Elementary School after the community activist, she said.

“He was an advocate for all schools and the naming of that school,” Dietz said. “Mike was all about community engagement and community involvement.”

During his tenure on the school board, he also served as the executive director of Kansas Minority Business Development Council.

It wouldn’t be until around 2011 when he would meet Aleeya Hubbard-Kinard, who was then Aleeya Hubbard.

“I just believe God divinely placed us together,” she said.

His business, My PictureMan, was taking eighth-grade photos of the students at Gordon Parks Academy.

She had an interest in photography and her guardian grandmother suggested she intern with Kinard. She spent the summer before freshman year at North High School taking photos.

Her first assignment was at the Kansas African American Museum and her first subject was the late Carl Brewer. Hubbard was nervous and Kinard could tell.

He told her to take candid photos or ask if people wanted to pose but mostly just take photos that caught her eye. His words were comforting.

The internship ended but they stayed in touch.

Kinard helped her train for volleyball. They would run the stairs together at Cessna Stadium and he would volley balls to her.

“He was there for every event that I had for school,” she said.

Volleyball wasn’t her thing but she did well academically. They continued a father-daughter relationship, something she had always wanted.

“In Mike, I found that. He was there for everything,” she said. “From there, we decided we wanted to adopt each other.”

They waited until after she turned 18 since it would make the process easier.

Mr. Kinard encouraged her to go to college and helped her secure scholarship opportunities, including an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority pageant event in Wichita.

Her family was introduced before the teen performed.

“It was so fun preparing with him and getting to have that moment on stage with him where I could officially declare that I was his daughter,” she said. “That was probably the most magical moment of my life. I will never forget that. I felt like a princess.”

The scholarships helped cover most of her schooling at the University of Kansas. Mr. Kinard helped cover any gaps.

In May, she finished her master’s degree in architecture. Mr. Kinard was diagnosed with cancer the month before.

“I think that he’s basically created adult me.” she said. “He has been to the foundation of that.”

Funeral arrangement are pending.

This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 12:00 AM.