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Musician Missy Kinyon, a Grosse Pointe Park philanthropist who introduced thousands of Detroiters and global visitors to kayaking on the Detroit River and built friendships among visionaries in metro Detroit that changed how many in the city saw what was possible, died on Wednesday. She was 49.
Kinyon, co-owner of Detroit Outpost outfitters at Grayhaven State Harbor, was diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma, an extremely aggressive and rare form of cancer that ravaged her body and took her from the world in just five weeks, her husband, John Roberts-Kinyon, 44, told the Detroit Free Press. The mother of two died at home surrounded by family.
In the weeks prior, kayakers and paddleboarders posted messages of love on social media with the hashtag #paddlesoutformissy and images of paddles lit with holiday lights. Word of her condition spread quickly. Messages papered Facebook sites from metro Detroit and as far away as Australia, saying the world wouldn’t feel quite the same again.
Most notably, Kinyon has been described as a “magical” force who worked to introduce strangers and build strong communities, particularly between the Grosse Pointes and Detroit. She helped people overcome their fear of water and introduced them to its beauty, friends said.
“Missy has left an indelible wake for everyone,” said Jason McGuire, 47, CEO and operator of Riverside Marina in Detroit. “Kayaks don’t leave wakes. Wakes are what happen when you go through the water pretty fast and it leaves a ripple. Kayaks don’t do that ― but Missy, her life, did that.”
Riverside, located on the Detroit River between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, was the vision of former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young and Porterfield Wilson, a successful General Motors dealer, to provide a home that welcomed minorities. And Riverside was Kinyon’s home marina.
“She was an advocate for getting people of all different backgrounds and cultures out paddling on the water,” McGuire said. “She was extreme about you being super close to the water and taking in nature.
“Most African Americans, especially here in Detroit, are powerboaters. She brought a whole different view, and would say, ‘I get so many people who are of African American descent getting on kayaks and going out.’ Missy made everyone feel welcome. This has hit me so hard. My wife asked, ‘Why does this happen to someone so special?’ “
Kinyon and her husband celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary in August.
They met at Dino’s Lounge in Ferndale, where Kinyon was tending bar. Their first date was a whitewater rafting trip, Roberts-Kinyon said. “She used to go whitewater rafting with all these bikers in Pennsylvania, on the border of West Virginia. I’d never been whitewater rafting, and I was debating — what was I getting into?”
For years, Roberts-Kinyon has been known simply as Missy’s husband, he said. He works full time as an orthotics and prosthetics medical equipment manager while running the business side of Detroit Outpost.
Growing up, Kinyon would come home from school without a coat because she gave it to someone who didn’t have one, her husband said. She later left home in St. Clair Shores to attend Oak Creek Ranch School in Cornville, Arizona. She taught horseback riding as therapy, Roberts-Kinyon said. She worked at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, dialed into the vibrant music scene.
She focused on just making the world better, he said. People on the side of the road in Detroit knew her first name because she would regularly deliver food to them, he said.
“She called me late one night, it was storming outside, and she picked up a homeless person walking on the side of the road and took him to a shelter,” Roberts-Kinyon said. “She said, ‘Don’t worry. I’m fine. His name is Terry.’ “
For nearly a decade, Jenelle David, 44, of Grosse Pointe, joined her close friend to kayak once a week on the Detroit River through spring, summer and fall. Groups of mostly women also paddled the 20-plus miles from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, she said. Missy took people out paddling under the moon to watch the stars, David said.
“We were creating new clusters of a community with musicians, singers, athletes, politicians, community volunteers,” David said.
Kinyon founded the Detroit Outpost in 2015, where she led kayaking excursions throughout the canals of Detroit, Detroit River, Belle Isle and Peche Island. She often sang Southern blues on the water or after a trip.
“She wanted all people to have access to the water, learn about Detroit waterway history, architecture, and lore,” David said. “People from all around the world have kayaked with her.”
She always carried her guitar and founded the Eastside Jam Collective in 2017, which gathered weekly at the Cabbage Patch Saloon in Grosse Pointe Park and the Turnaround Bar in Detroit.
Musician Tim Prophit, past commodore of Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit, met Kinyon through the jam sessions, where total strangers would get together.
“She was so nonjudgmental, and she would bring people together with her energy,” he said. “She was all about caring for each other. And her hugs, everyone knew her for these great hugs.”
Kinyon drove a Ram pickup truck with her dog, River, by her side. The homeless puppy was found on the way to a kayak launch by her husband and daughter two years ago and Kinyon fell in love, family members said.
She co-founded in 2016 the nonprofit phoemale, which works with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and/or homeless people in Detroit to rebuild their lives, according to the website. The group has worked to link survivors in Detroit with community support and resources, David said.
“Missy opened her arms to everyone and made you feel as if you were the only one. She would say yes and do whatever needed to be done, especially for the underdog, said Lila Lazarus, a longtime friend and Detroit TV personality from Orchard Lake. “She had an open door, open heart policy. She saw the magic in everyone.”
In addition to her husband, Kinyon is survived by two daughters, Charlotte and Lucy; her parents, Pam and Jim Binson, of St. Clair Shores, founders of Binson’s Home Health Care, and a host of other family and friends.
Kinyon will be interred in family property near Tawas during a private ceremony on Dec. 1, the family said. In January, friends and family will host a big celebration of life and fundraiser to help offset medical costs, John Kinyon said. “She said, ‘I want a pie eating contest. I want a bounce house and a mariachi band.’ “
Kinyon’s death has left a “gaping hole” in the community, David said, adding:
“The only way to move forward is to look for her in the sunsets and the sunrises.”
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.
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