Lloyd Kinley

Hastings resident, Lloyd D. Kinley, 84, died Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital.

Services will be Friday, June 22, 2007; 10:00 A.M. at Butler-Volland Chapel with Rev. Earl Higgins officiating. Burial with military rites will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Hastings, Nebraska. Visitation will be Wednesday, June 20, 2007, 5pm-9pm, Thursday, June 21, 2007, 9am-9pm & Friday, June 22, 2007 9am until service time. Memorials may be given to P.O.W. Chapter or Hastings Foundation for Veterans Monument-Hastings.

Lloyd D. Kinley was born on July 14, 1922. He was the third child born to Robert and Lula ( Faler) Kinley. Lloyd graduated from Bladen High School in 1940 and then attended a business college in Grand Island. He moved to Washington D.C. to work for the war department as a teletype operator, shortly after the war broke out in December, 1941. He enlisted in the United States Army-Air Corps in December 1942 as an aviation cadet. He was sent to Miami Florida in February 1943, for basic training. After further training, he was chosen as a potential pilot and sent to Maxwell Field, Alabama for cadet training. After advanced training in single engine flying tactics and operations in Florida, he received his pilot wings and was commissioned a second lieutenant on February 8, 1944. On July 10, 1944, he was deployed overseas to Naples, Italy where he joined the 86th Fighter Bomber Group, 12th Air Corps. He flew P-47's Thunderbolts in ground support missions over northern Italy during the Rome-Arno Campaign. He then flew more ground support missions over Southern France during the Southern France Campaign, where he received a Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon for the aerial hammering work his group did against the enemy. On August 31, 1944, his plane the 'Val' was shot down over Italy. He bailed out at about 12,000 feet, he floated down where he was captured by German soldiers upon hitting the ground. He was then taken to Germany, where he was eventually incarcerated at the Stalag Luft 1, a prison camp for officers. On May 1, 1945, the camp was liberated by Russian soldiers. On June 20, 1945, he arrived in New York City after sailing aboard a liberty boat, and shortly thereafter arrived back in Bladen after being granted a three month leave. While home on leave, he went to a dance in Red Cloud where he caught the eye of Mabel Vavricka. The couple began dating and quickly fell in love. He was discharged from the Air Corps on October 10, 1945, after receiving his 1st Lieutenant commission. On March 2, 1946, Lloyd and Mabel were married in Mankato, Kansas. The couple farmed northeast of Bladen until September 1, 1992, when they moved to Hastings. Lloyd was a lifetime member of the Blue Hill American Legion #176, the Hastings VFW, and the P.O.W. Chapter in Grand Island. He was also a member of the Eagles Club in Hastings. Lloyd served terms on the Bladen School Board and the Roseland Co-op Board while living in Bladen. Lloyd and Mabel enjoyed playing cards and domino's with their friends and enjoyed dancing. They loved traveling together, taking many bus tours, trips to California and Hawaii.

Mr. Kinley was preceded in death by his parents, three grandchildren, Christopher Koch, Jamie Kinley and Michael Niemeyer, two brothers, Elmer & Bernard and a sister Ruby James and her husband Clyde.

Survivors include:
Wife: Mabel Kinley - Hastings, NE
Children & Spouses: Julia & Bob Koch - Hastings, NE
Don & Debra Kinley- Gering, NE
Linda & Duane Niemeyer - Redlands, CA
Roy Kinley & partner Michael Directo - San Diego, CA
Jerold Kinley - Hastings, NE
7 Grandchildren & 5 Spouses
6 great grandchildren
Sister & Spouse: Dorothy & Lester Wormuth - Blue Hill, NE
Sisters-in-law: Wilma Kinley - Hastings, NE
Oriel Kinley - Hastings, NE