Joseph D. Kinnear, 80, an inventor who cherished his time fiddling with gadgets and gizmos in his kitchen, died Tuesday, May 23, in the Manor Care Nursing Home in Hinsdale of complications from a hip surgery. A longtime resident of Western Springs, Mr. Kinnear loved inventing. “He worked on [his inventions] at home on the kitchen table with his [stuff] all over the place,” said his daughter, Terryl Shouba. “All he wanted to do in life was work on his inventions.” Mr. Kinnear invented a safety stop for lift-trucks, electric connectors for railroad cars and a host of other gadgets. Though few of his inventions sold, he reveled in the challenge. “That’s what kept him going when he retired,” said Dave Hesse, an old friend. Mr. Kinnear spent two years at the University of Oklahoma, where he employed another of his skills–playing pool–to pay his bills. “He was just a poor farm boy,” his daughter said. “But he was a real sharpshooter at pool. That was how he [paid] some of his college expenses.” He quit school in the early 1940s to serve the Navy during World War II. It was during his training that Mr. Kinnear’s love of inventing took hold. The Navy sent him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass, where he studied radar and electricity. He later worked as a salesman for Daniel Woodhead Inc. of Deerfield before retiring in 1986. Besides his daughter, Mr. Kinnear is survived by his wife of 57 years, Maxine; two sisters, Dorothy Dye and Maxine Boles; and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. June 24 in the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale, 17 W. Maple St.
