Feature Article | By Jocklyn Mundy | Photos by Michael Kleinfelt, Windermere Photography
Bob and Kathy McKinley
Windermere neighbors since 2009
Bob and Kathy reflect Windermere: devoted, patriotic, and deeply connected to the people and place they call home. Whether it’s Bob’s dedicated years on the Town Council and community committees, or the thoughtful emails he continues to send keeping neighbors informed about town business and upcoming events, his steady involvement speaks volumes. Kathy’s bright smile and friendly wave are just as recognizable, greeting neighbors each day as she walks through town for her exercise. Together, they embody the spirit of Windermere, rooted in service, gratitude, and genuine care for the community around them.
What makes their story so special isn’t simply longevity; it’s the timing. They both grew up in Leesburg, Florida, where their paths first crossed at a tiny church of about 50 congregants. Bob noticed Kathy early on, drawn first to her gentle nature and quiet grace, but also to the spark in her eyes. Beautiful, shy and proper; she carried herself with a natural elegance that never faded. “I always liked her,” Bob recalls, smiling at the memory, “but she wasn’t as into me back then.” Still, he arranged his class schedules just to see her in the halls, a small act of persistence that, years later, would make their love story feel destined from the start.
Then life, as it tends to, carried them down different paths.
At seventeen, Bob enlisted in the U.S. Army, trading the quiet streets of Leesburg for a world of discipline, service, and adventure. Over the next twenty-one and a half years, his career took him from the frosty expanse of Alaska to the jungles of Panama, through postings in Germany, and across the United States. He rose steadily through the ranks, earning the respect of those he led and eventually retiring as a First Sergeant, a title that spoke as much to his leadership as to his character.
During his years of service, Bob’s assignments were as diverse as the places he lived. He completed advanced training in logistics, communications, and administration skills that would later carry into his civilian career. His overseas tours taught him adaptability and respect for different cultures; in Germany and Panama, he picked up conversational German and Spanish, often serving as a bridge between units and local communities. Whether coordinating base operations, managing personnel, or training new recruits, he approached each post with the same steady sense of responsibility that would define every chapter of his life. The Army became not just a career, but a classroom for life, teaching him resilience, precision, and how to lead through calm and chaos alike.
Kathy, meanwhile, built her own kind of legacy right here in Florida. After starting in small-town bookkeeping, she joined the accounting department at Walt Disney World just in time for history. On October 1, 1971, she stood on Main Street, U.S.A., as the gates opened for the very first time. “It was magical,” she remembers. “I had never seen anything like it—people from all over the world, everyone smiling, the sense that something extraordinary was beginning.”
That first day turned into a 30-year career that would see her grow alongside the company itself. She supported the openings of Epcot and MGM Studios, spent several years with Vista United, and returned to Disney to close out her professional journey. Along the way, she found pride not just in the work but in the people and purpose behind it. “Disney taught me so much,” she reflects. “It gave me confidence, independence, and the belief that no matter where you start, you can build something meaningful.”
Both had married young, had children, and built respectable careers. Neither expected the next chapter. In the spring of 1994, after decades apart, Bob stopped by a Goodyear store in Leesburg where Kathy’s sister worked. A quick phone call led to a reunion lunch at Friendly’s on International Drive. Three hours disappeared in easy conversation, and both realized, perhaps too quickly for logic, but perfectly for fate, that the spark they shared as teenagers had never gone out. They began planning a future together: not a retelling of the past, but a joyful, unexpected second beginning.
Before that new beginning took root in Windermere, their story threaded through familiar Florida places, Leesburg, Orlando, and a season in Clermont. They moved to Windermere in 2009 for two reasons that still make them smile: to be near their daughter, Heather Churchill, and her husband, Coert Voorhees, who at the time were living on Main Street and starting a family with their daughter, Kalina (grandma on babysitting duty was happily part of the plan), because the town’s lakes, oaks, and neighborly rhythm felt like home the first time they drove through.
The house they found seemed to have been waiting just for them, a 1970s gem with character, quirks, and an overgrown hedge framing the lot. “When we first walked in, the entry had a wall-to-wall mirror,” Kathy laughs. “You had to look at yourself the minute you opened the door!” Over time, they tore down walls, replaced pink ceramic tile, and transformed the dated layout into an inviting space filled with light.
Inside, nearly everything carries a story: Ethan Allen pieces from their early years; antique books rescued from neighborhood garage sales; a few cheerful red accents that make Kathy happy; and the treasured German clock, brought back in the early '70s, that Bob keeps tuned within seconds. “I adjust it maybe once every two months,” he says proudly. “It’s almost perfect.”
Professionally, Bob’s post-Army years reflected the same discipline and leadership that had defined his service. He managed large-scale integration and installation projects for Computer Sciences Corporation, helping federal agencies from U.S. Customs to the federal judiciary to modernize their data systems. Later, he became a controller and operations manager for a major RV storage company in Clermont, where his attention to detail and steady hand proved invaluable.
Kathy’s professional story followed a different path, but it shared the same sense of purpose. Her Disney career came full circle, spanning Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, and Vista United, culminating in a proud 30-year retirement from the company she helped open and grow.
Windermere has been their favorite chapter by far. Bob served six years on the Windermere Town Council, working as liaison to Parks & Recreation, assisting with charter review, and championing simple ideas that became beloved traditions, Holiday Hoopla, dog-friendly days in the park, and programs that bring neighbors together. He once led the Elder Lunch and now MCs the gatherings, booking speakers and keeping the room buzzing. “Windermere’s strength is its people,” he says. “Everyone helps each other here.”
Kathy’s beauty, the first thing that caught Bob’s eye, has grown even more striking with time, reflecting the energy and joy she brings to everything she does. The two of them work out at Body Coach, and Kathy absolutely loves the routine, especially weight training. She walks four miles five days a week, and this year she placed FIRST in her division at the Run Among the Lakes. The same quiet determination that carried her from a small accounting office to opening days at Disney now powers her sets and miles; she keeps improving, keeps strengthening, and keeps smiling.
Their days together are full of small, memorable moments that say as much about their love as any grand occasion could. Kathy still wears her original engagement ring, now more than thirty years old, a sentimental favorite she once considered updating until deciding that the story behind it mattered more than any new sparkle. In true First Sergeant fashion, Bob keeps a tidy list of things “so no one has to worry when I kick the bucket,” he jokes, a gesture that shows his heart as clearly as any romantic note could.
Music fills their home, the same way it did decades ago when a large wooden entertainment center housed their growing collection of Goodyear and Columbia records. Kathy still loves the old orchestras and crooners; even now, classical and timeless standards drift through the rooms while the German clock marks each quarter hour. Many of those albums, and a few cherished handbags and keepsakes, have since been passed along to local resale shops that support community causes. “If someone else can enjoy them, that’s the best part,” Kathy says.
They still love to travel, with Montreal ranking high among their favorite memories, a trip filled with laughter, elegant dinners, and a first-class flight home that still makes them grin. St. Barts is already marked on their calendar for next year, and Kathy hopes to explore the coastal towns and charming streets of New England in the future. They enjoy a good adventure, but they’re just as content to wander the neighborhood at sunset, classical music drifting from the living room while that faithful clock keeps time.
Their blended family includes children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren spread across the country. They are grateful that Heather, Coert, and their granddaughter Kalina are close by. Windermere still charms them, the sand roads, the canopy of trees, and neighbors who wave from golf carts and porches. They’ve especially enjoyed the Centennial celebrations this year, reminded that the heart of Windermere has always been its people, as old stories and new memories come together.
Their marriage, now nearing its thirtieth year, is proof that love doesn’t always follow the expected path. Sometimes it takes decades to find your way back to the person who once sat across from you in church or who caught your eye in the hallway of a small-town school. Theirs is a well-earned love, a beautiful merging of two rich lives shaped by faith, resilience, and grace.
“It’s not just about where life takes you,” Kathy says. “It’s about where you find home.” For Bob and Kathy, that home is Windermere, where love, community, and history meet beneath the shade of trees, and where, as Bob puts it with a smile, “every day is a gift.”
