H. Leland Kindred

Mr. H. L. (Leland) Kindred passed away December 28th, 2011 at Signature Healthcare in Marietta, Georgia. Visitation with Leland Kindred’s (known to his fellow workers as Mr. K) family will start at 4 P.M. on January 3rd, 2012. The funeral will be held immediately thereafter at 6:00 P.M. at the Connor-Westbury Funeral Home. Conducting the services will be the Reverend Dr. James O. Speed of Marietta, GA. and Mr. Wayne Brown, a special friend and fellow coworker at Dundee Mills. Graveside services will be held at 1:00 P.M. on January 4th, 2012 at the Willard Park Cemetery, Harriman, Tennessee, with military honors. Leland Kindred was born in Rockwood, Tennessee on November 25, 1921. He was married to Edna Ruth Whitson on December 6, 1947. Following fifty-two years of wonderful lives together, she died February 14, 1999. They were blessed with three fine sons. They are: son H. L. Jr. (Beau) and Janet Kindred, Griffin, Ga.; Granddaughter Jennifer Miller; Great-grandson Drew Miller, and Great-granddaughter McKenna Miller of Milner, Ga.; son Douglas Wayne and Beth Kindred and Granddaughter Mary Kindred, Kennesaw, Ga.; son Donald Philip and Melina Kindred, and their four step-Granddaughters Macie, Cydnee, Halee and Kadie Kultgen, Fayetteville, AR. and Granddaughter Ashley and Jonathan Gillespie, Griffin, Ga. Graduating from the Rockwood High School in the Class of 1939, he joined others in awaiting the development of World War II. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Kindred enlisted in the Aviation Cadet program on May 9, 1942 and trained to be a pilot. He successfully completed flight training and earned his Pilot’s Wings and a commission as an Officer in the U. S. Army Air Corp on September 30, 1943. Assigned to fly B-24 Liberator bombers in bombardment training, he was later trained for Combat Mapping duty and stationed in Hawaii. Compiling some 900 hours of over water flights involving the Hawaii Islands, Midway Island, Johnson Island, Kwajalein, Enewetok, Majuro, Guam, Saipan, and including 15 missions accompanying fighters on strikes to the main island of Japan from Iwo Jima. He was discharged from active duty on February 1, 1946. He began his postwar career with the Tennessee Department of Employment Security before joining Burlington Industries as a Recreation Director and Assistant Personnel Manager at the Harriman Hosiery Plant in 1950. He was assigned to several plants of Burlington Industries. In 1970, Dr. George D. Heaton, Industrial Management Consultant, recommended Kindred to Mr. John T, Newton, President of Dundee Mills, to interview for a job in Griffin. That was the last major career move for Kindred who retired as Dundee’s Public and Community Relations Director in January 1995, following the Dundee/Springs Industry merger. Kindred and his family fell in love with the Dundee family of employees, the people of Griffin and Spalding County. He became very active in community activities, church work, and industrial activities and received special recognition in several activities. He was President of the Chamber of Commerce (1982), named Griffin’s “Man of the Year – 1982”, The George D. Heaton Award by the Southern Industrial Relations Conference (1987), Junior Achievement Award, and in 1990, GTMA presented a plaque honoring his service to the textile industry. He began his community service activities assisting Mr. Doug Hollberg, Sr. with Griffin’s Bicentennial Celebration, featuring a most successful Industry Week, featuring tours and special promotions by our local industries. The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society, 301 Kelly Dr., Ste 3, Peachtree City, GA 30269.

H. Leland Kindred

November 25, 1921 - December 28, 2011