Kay Kinder, 2005 Inductee

One of Fountain Hills’ most successful retailers, Mrs. Kinder opened her women’s fashions shop on Dec. 1, 1973. At the time of her Hall of Fame induction, her business has been operating for more than 31 years. She was honored as Fountain Hills Business Person of the Year in 1990. The original recipient of the Chamber’s Customer Service Award, she is listed in Today’s Arizona Woman Who’s Who. Her shop was named one of the Top 10 women’s boutiques in the Valley for five years. Mrs. Kinder was very involved with the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce, serving on its board for five years. She was chairwoman of the community’s 1976 Bicentennial celebration, an event that attracted more than 75,000 people. She also sponsored Santa’s helicopter fly-in for the holidays for many years. She was among the first to see the 12,000-acre site that would become Fountain Hills when she accompanied husband Don (national sales manager for planned communities) and McCulloch Senior Vice President Lorne Pratt on their initial trip in 1968 to determine if the site was suitable to build a new city.