By Craig Smith

Published: Tuesday, January 22, 2013, 12:01 a.m.
Updated: Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Jeff Kinder loved Pittsburgh sports and surprised his father at Christmas with tickets for the Pirates' home opener.

“He was Pittsburgh sports all the way. ... Now I'll have to go to the opener on April 1,” said Mr. Kinder's mother, Joan M. (Policicchio) Kinder.

Jeffrey Allen “Jeff” Kinder of Penn Hills, formerly of Hampton, died suddenly on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, of a pulmonary embolism. He was 27.

Mr. Kinder worked as an obituary writer for Trib Total Media.

The son of Joan and George A. Kinder, he was an aspiring writer and a 2003 graduate of Hampton High School, where he played football and basketball. He earned a degree in English from John Carroll University in suburban Cleveland and worked with autistic children while in college.

He loved to write and “could talk to anybody about anything,” his mother said.

Mr. Kinder attended many games with his father, often making gentleman's wagers on the outcomes. He coached basketball and softball in Community Intensive Supervision Project leagues for at-risk urban teens.

“He and his dad went to March Madness games in New York,” his mother said. “They had planned to go to the Pitt basketball game Saturday.”

Mr. Kinder enjoyed reading and following politics, and worked as a volunteer for Barack Obama's first presidential campaign from 2007 to 2008.

He wrote poetry and was involved with several friends in Pittsburgh writing groups. He wrote about “the battle between the author's emotions and the blank page,” his mother said, reading from one of his journals.

In addition to his parents, Mr. Kinder is survived by his sister, Lauren Kinder of the South Side; his aunt, Pat DeConcilis of Brownsville; and many aunts and uncles in New Jersey and North Carolina.

Visitation will be from 1 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in Herbert R. King Jr. Funeral Home, 2841 Woodland Circle, Hampton. A funeral Mass will be celebrated Thursday in St. Mary's of Assumption Church in Hampton at a time to be announced.

Craig Smith is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-380-5646 or csmith@tribweb.com.

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