Mount Joy, PA — Members of the local Mount Joy community, as well as members of the archery industry at large, are mourning the loss of Jim Kinsey who passed away Tuesday, Jan. 18th, 2022 at the age of 84.
Jim’s father, Vernon, founded Kinsey’s as a local archery retail store in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania in 1952. It was through Larry Smith’s close contact with Vernon’s company while he was growing up in PA that led South Nation Archery Supply to start an account with Kinsey’s as our first wholesale supplier when we started in business in 1983. So our personal and business ties go back to both Vernon and Jim.
Jim Kinsey pioneered the distribution portion of the business laying the ground work for what Kinsey’s is today. Starting in 1957, Jim was instrumental in distributing arrows to retailers throughout the Northeast. He also spearheaded the company’s arrow manufacturing division by cementing contracts with both Colt Firearms and Bear Archery.
Jim led the family business for 40 years from 1957 through 1997 before passing the reins onto his children, 3rd generation owners, Rick Kinsey and Sherri Gorman. Mr. Kinsey stayed connected to the business through 2013 when he formally retired.
Jim loved skiing as well as archery; we would share stories with Jim and his staff every year at archery trade shows. He had a great smile and a good sense of humour. We enjoyed his company. We send our condolences to Rick, Sherri and their families.