A Perfect Match - On and Off the Dance Floor: BHS Alum Dave Kinney Shares Epic Love Story
By Julie Perine on September 25, 2016 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
Growing up in Bridgeport, David Kinney took dance classes with Mrs. Vincent on Holt Street and a few years later, learned choreography through the Clarksburg Art Center Stagecrafters.
“I got pretty good learning basic four-step, foxtrot and cha-cha,” said the 1977 Bridgeport High School graduate.
Dance was a very small part of his life back then, but it ultimately brought him together with the love of his life. He said he knew she was his perfect match – on and off the dance floor - from the first time he laid eyes on her.
When they met, Kinney was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, having made many rescue missions in extreme weather conditions. He witnessed an irrupting volcano – Mount Pavlof on the Alaska peninsula - at 25,000 feet going from cobalt blue to ash plum. He thought that might be the most amazing site he had ever encountered – until he met Dee.
It was July of 1991, when Kinney – then in his early-30s - was at the American Legion in Astoria, Oregon, sitting at the bar and minding his own business when she and a handful of other middle-age women approached him and struck up a conversation.
“They were giving me the third degree, but all along all I could do was focus on the pretty brunette with her foot touching my shin,” he said. “I remembered everything she was wearing that night.”
Both were married, but in the process of separating or divorcing. Dee Johnson became an acquaintance and friend and being an avid dancer, eventually became his dance partner around town. Even though Kinney was on board from the get-go, Dee was hesitant to date.
“After numerous love letters and little gifts that surprised her in the mail, she finally relented and went out with me,” he said.
The courtship lasted four years, during which time the couple had a lot of fun and did a lot of dancing.
“By 1994, I bought a wedding ring in June. It wasn’t long after that I 
overheard her tell someone she wouldn’t marry me because of our age difference,” Kinney said. “I had already asked her son’s permission, so I just carried the ring around for six months.”
overheard her tell someone she wouldn’t marry me because of our age difference,” Kinney said. “I had already asked her son’s permission, so I just carried the ring around for six months.”
Kinney said he, too, knew the age difference would likely cause problems, but he said he came to the conclusion that he couldn’t live without Dee in his life.
“That is truly the most important thing – to be sure and know that your partner will be with you for the rest of your life – no matter what,” he said.
After hearing radio talk show host David Brenner talk about love on his show, Kinney decided to pop the question on the air.
"I figured asking with three million people listening, she'd have a hard time saying no," he said.
But he admits he wasn't completely confident.
“I told the producer this might be some very interesting radio if she says no,” he said.
But on Dec. 9, 1994, Dee accepted his proposal and the couple were married March 24, 1995, with full military honors with a lot of dancing in their future..
“We took classes in line dancing, country dancing, ballroom dancing and got pretty good,” Kinney said. “We were good enough to teach basics and perform in contests.”
They taught four-step, swing, cha-cha, quickstep and 10-step for both the most enthusiastic of dancers and those who just needed to get by.
“It allowed any gentleman to dance without making themselves look like a fool and strong enough to ensure the lady follows,” he said.
In June of 1995, the couple relocated to Kodiak, Alaska, where some may think the dance ended. Just six months after the couple married, Dee suffered a very serious stroke; one which put her in a coma for more than a month.
“She stopped breathing three times and I thought it was the end,” he said.
He’ll never forget the night she made a turn for the better. A golden sunset provided an angelic mood and Kinney is certain that angels saved his wife.
“The only time that I did not feel her existence was when she was in a coma in the ICU in Anchorage, Alaska,” he said.
When she pulled through and came to, he once again felt her heartbeat with his again.
Kinney remembers the gloomy picture that the neurosurgeon painted when Dee came out of the coma. He said she would no longer be able to talk, would be paralyzed on one side and would be mentally impaired. He was also told that his wife would not live more than six years.
“With all of that true to some degree – except for the latter part – they never thought that we would have one of the most incredible lives two people could have – healthy or otherwise,” he said.
Dee is disabled, but the “epic love story,” as Kinney called it, continues. He went on to teach dance, including wheelchair dance.He didn't fully retire from the military until 2008.
“I’ve had a wonderful military career, but my best achievement to this day is being the sole caregiver of the most beautiful person I’ve ever met in my life,” he said.
He said they are soulmates by every definition of the word.
"To this day, the only way we can communicate is mostly through our years of just understanding what each other needs and wants,” Kinney said. “She is very aphasic and that means communication is all scrambled, no matter how hard she tries.”
He won’t deny that it’s frustrating at times and but they manage to get through it and always remember their motto, “One day at a time.”
“I don’t want to paint a perfect picture, but we manage and are just like any other couple,” he said. “We have our ups and downs.”
Over the course of 24 years, the couple has visited nearly 700 wineries in states including California and Oregon, starting with a trip to Amity Winery in May of 1992. Oct. 8 will mark the 21st anniversary of Dee's stroke. The couple has lived in California and Washington State but now are back in Astoria, along the Pacific coast.
