Meet Gloria Kinz

One of our many business donors is Gloria Kinz, seen below standing behind the counter of her business, Tri-County Surveying, Inc., in downtown Seguin.

Surveying a lot, either donated or purchased, is an essential part of the earliest stage of submitting a building permit request, before any construction can begin. It begins with a search of legal records, followed by a physical survey staking marker rods at each corner (sometimes to the consternation of neighbors). Lot surveying is a significant cost of the building of most Habitat homes, and Gloria has generously donated all her company’s work for Guadalupe Valley Habitat for the past dozen or so years.

Gloria grew up in nearby Selma. Early in her adult years she went to work in a company in San Antonio that did surveying for roads and highways. It was there that she met her husband Richard, a New Jersey native who had come South “to avoid the cold winters” of the Northeast. To escape the frenzy of urban living, the couple moved to Stockdale, where in due course, they raised four daughters (see picture below), and began developing their own surveying business, soon locating it in Seguin, and thirteen years ago they moved here. Soon after that, Guadalupe Valley Habitat president, Jack Linden, stopped in to ask if she would donate some survey work for affiliate building lots. She readily agreed, and has “never given it a second thought,” she says.

Sadly, a few years ago Richard had a stroke, followed by Parkinson’s disease and then his passing, with Gloria being his caregiver while continuing to manage their business and serve on various civic boards. Despite this sometimes exhausting regimen, Gloria says that she has led a rewarding life, and that her heartfelt desire is to “pay it forward.” Indeed!

Guadalupe Valley Habitat is pleased to name its latest house in her honor, with gratitude for her many years of generous service to our work of providing affordable, decent housing in our area.