Greg Kemp passed away March 22, 2022, at the age of 77. He was born Feb. 4, 1945 in Louisiana.
Greg was a long-time member of the Cathedral of Hope and was active in various Circle groups and social organizations. In January 1997, through the Dallas Voice, he won a trip to New York to see the original Broadway production of Rent and celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Greg was a devoted fan of the Turtle Creek Chorale and an avid photographer, and he enjoyed outings with his many friends. He worked in sales until his retirement.
Greg is survived by one daughter, Amy Dykes, of Louisiana.
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Tommie Kinney, aka Janelle DuBois, passed away unexpectedly at his Oak Cliff home on April 6, 2022. He was a talented artist, writer, poet and open mic host, and was well-known during the 1990s for performing as Janelle DuBois in the Dallas drag community. Janelle wrote a column for the Dallas Voice called “Loose in Dallas” and published two chapbooks, Big Girl Fun and Goddesses and Monsters. She was preceded in death by her drag daughter, Bella Donna DuBois. Bella died in a car accident in June 1999 at the age of 21.
Tommie was born on June 9, 1957, in East Lansing, Mich., to the late John Rankin Kinney, Ph.D., and Thelma Hobaugh Kinney. His father was professor emeritus in mathematics at Michigan State University. Tommie’s paternal grandmother was Grace Rankin, an American suffragist and sister to Jeanette Pickering Rankin, the first woman elected to the United States Congress in 1940.
Tommie graduated from East Lansing High School in 1974. He attended Michigan State University and graduated with a B.S. in biochemistry and an M.S. in chemical engineering. He also earned an M.L.S. in library science from the University of Michigan. After college, he was employed as a librarian at the University of Florida. In 1992, Tommie was hired as a librarian for the Superconducting Super Collider in Texas. Recently, he worked for the Dallas Public Library and was a certified teacher, writing instructor and tutor.
One accomplishment Tommie was always extremely proud of “writing the book” in 1995 on the nascent internet’s influence on information services. He said, “It’s called, logically enough, Entertainment Technology and Tomorrow’s Information Services, and in it I more-or-less predicted the iPod and the whole RSS-based information deluge which followed.”
Tommie’s surviving chosen family includes girlfriend Carol Dengle, close friends Fran Carris, Jeff Downing and Karen Adams, and many others. Information on a celebration of life will be announced at a later date.
Tommie as Janelle DuBois
