The following was provided by Susana, Kin's daughter:

 

My dad was a brilliant man who placed extraordinarily high value on lifelong learning and education and taught me to care about the welfare of others above all else. 

He grew up in Niota, a small farm town in Tennessee where he took great joy in getting into harmless mischief and picking on his younger brother. He studied history and then international business and ended up leading the international sales department at a truck parts company for 25 years—a job that took him quite literally all over the globe. He had an innate skill at winning others over and an openness and respect for other cultures which allowed him to plant friendships wherever he went. (He practically invented the phrase "never met a stranger.")

Our favorite thing to do together was watch Jeopardy, and I followed his footsteps to become heavily involved in competitive quiz bowl and debate. On my brother's end, he passed down his love of scouting; Daniel became an Eagle Scout, just like my dad and grandfather before him.

The thing I'll never forget about him, and that I only came to truly appreciate once I started my career, is that whenever I called him at his office just to chat (which was often), he always made the time. I was never a bother or an interruption, something that feels unfathomable in our busy corporate world. 

He was my sounding board and confidant, especially up until he began to get sick in 2012. Over the next 12 years, our relationship changed many times, and I had to get reacquainted with each new "version" of my dad over and over. But he was always my dad, up until the very end. I'm glad he's no longer suffering and I miss him dearly.