Bill Kindel's Home & Family

The Colorado branch of the Kindel family has been based in Denver since my great grandfather, George J. Kindel, came west in 1877 to seek his fortune selling bedding to the silver miners. The family remained in the mattress business until my father's retirement in the late 1980s. Had I stayed with "firmware & extra-firmware" instead of software engineering, I would have been the fourth generation to lead the family business, which made and sold Serta® mattresses and foundations throughout the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, most of New Mexico, and western Kansas. I also helped to launch the first Mattress Factory® store at the factory in Denver, which was successful beyond all expectations and changed the way that mattresses are sold in the Denver area.

I have become the de facto genealogist for this branch of the Kindel family.  As a result, I have produced a CD-ROM containing family trees and documents for the Kindel, Danner (George's wife's family), Harvey (my paternal grandmother's family), and Enberg (my mother's family) that I share with my far-flung cousins.  Due to space limitations, I have only uploaded the Kindel tree for access here.  Use the following links to reach the Kindel Family Tree and assorted Kindel Documents and Photographs.

Until 2004, I owned a three bedroom townhome on Warren Lake in Fort Collins.  Once I became a seminarian, I lived in a 400 square foot efficiency apartment across the street from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX.  I graduated with an M.Div. in May of 2007 and was subsequently ordained as a Transitional Deacon in June and as an Episcopal Priest in December.  I now serve the Episcopal Parish Church of St. Charles the Martyr, in Fort Morgan, Colorado.

My mother, Jane Kindel, is 87 and in generally good health (though she is clearly "out of warranty" 8^).  My father passed away on October 20, 1998, 52 1/2 years to the day after their wedding in 1946.  One of the things I'm most thankful for is that I was able to be home in Colorado and in frequent contact with my father during the final year and a half of his life.  My mother has adapted well to his absence, and her deep faith in God (and something of a sense that my dad is watching over her) help keep her going.  In February of 2006, she moved into assisted living at the Village at Johnson Center in Centennial, CO.

My elder son, Bob , is 35 and has been married to his MIT sweetheart, Jessie Stickgold-Sarah since the Summer Solstice of 1998.  He graduated in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from MIT in 1995 and received his Ph. D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics (with a heavy concentration on robotics) from Stanford University in 2001.  He is now the Vice President of Engineering Services for Real-Time Innovations, a robotics software firm, which moved Bob and Jessie back to Massachusetts after graduation for their New England office.  Bob and Jessie have purchased a 2-family house in Somerville that they are renovating into a single-family home.  (I gave them a copy of The Money Pit for moments when the project threatens to get the best of them. 8^)  Jessie has been supervising the work while writing her first novel; she is also in a Ph. D. program at Brandeis University.  (Yet another doctor!)

The big news is that Jessie and Bob have adopted (Jessie referred to it as "offshore outsourcing") a daughter, Violet BaoEr ("precious child") Kindel Stickgold.  She's the first grandchild, so her Chinese name is certainly apropos.

Here are two photos that Jessie and Bob sent from China, just a few days after the adoption was completed in late January.  Violet was about 11 months of age and 20 pounds at the time.

My younger son, Steve , is 32 and a 1999 graduate cum laude in Biological and Engineering Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis.   He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in June of 2003 from the Ohio State University Department of Medicine.  "Dr. Steve" has completed a residency in Pediatrics at the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, and he began a fellowship in pediatric cardiology in Cincinnati in the summer of 2007.  Steve is married to Dr. Tammy Venema, of Dayton, OH, who set aside her surgical residency and began a PhD program in bariatric surgery at the University of Cincinnati.  Tammy and Steve had a "destination wedding" in March, 2007 at a resort on St. Croix.  I was able to represent the Kindel clan at their wonderful event.

My paradox (two doctors) is now complete! 8^)  I'll have a double paradox as soon as Jessie completes her PhD.

One of the joys of returning home to Colorado was getting to know my niece and nephews. My brother Win lives in Westminster (or is it Broomfield? -- his legal and mailing addresses differ).  In addition to his "day job" as an ISO 9000 quality maven, Win operates Precision Electronics out of his home as the Spirit moves him.  Julie, Win's wife of 29 years, passed away unexpectedly in November, 2005.  She is greatly missed, but my niece and nephews are her legacy and we give thanks for all that she gave to them and to the rest of the family.

Mary, my niece, is 28 and is a 2002 graduate with highest honors from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  She is smart and funny and musically gifted and we're all immensely proud of her.  Mary married Roelant van der Heijde in August of 2001 and they have since purchased my mother's house (aka "One South") in Denver.  Mary has soared through her profession as an actuary, which has produced a surprising amount of travel (and frequent flyer miles) in service to her customers.

My nephews, Jon and Scott, are 24 and 23, respectively.  Julie home-schooled all three children through the 8th grade and she obviously did a very good job at it.  Jon is a 2008 graduate of the University of Colorado, so that family tradition continues. Scott is on his own track, dividing his time between college and hands-on work in printing and graphic arts.

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