Friends of a Nova Scotian man, who died in the Cayman Islands, Sunday, are remembering Stephen David Kinch, 43, as an icon of Halifax’s bar scene.

Peter Savory worked with Kinch at Peddler’s Pub and Harris Foley worked with Kinch at The Dome.

“The only way I can describe it is, he is an icon in the bar industry. Anybody that works in any bar in the city, you say ‘Kinch’, they know who you’re talking about,” Savory said.

“Kinch had a little side bar at Peddler’s and it became known as ‘Kinch’s corner.’ Anybody who ever went to him for a drink, would usually go back – to him you weren’t a face, you were a person. He wanted to know you.”

“The greatest times of my life, I spent with this man. He felt like a brother to me,” Foley said.

Police in the Cayman Islands say Kinch died after he jumped off of a boat Sunday afternoon.

A male friend who alerted police told investigators that Kinch jumped into the water but never surfaced.

Foley said he was working when he learned of Kinch’s death.

“Actually I was at work at the time, and I got a phone call saying something had happened. I didn’t know details on it but I was absolutely devastated,” Foley said.

Kinch worked at many popular downtown bars in Halifax including The Dome, Peddler’s Pub and Mexicali Rosa’s.

“He made my job fun,” Savory said, “He was just a great guy to be around and there’s not really much more you can say. Everybody loved the man.”

The investigation into Kinch’s death is ongoing.

For more on this story go to:

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/05/22/ns-man-killed-caribbean.html