Obituary
Russell Edward Kincaid, age 84, died July 8, 2023 at home in Venice, FL. Russ was born on December 30, 1938 in Amesbury, MA to parents Walter “Edward” and Anna L. (Crowell) Kincaid. He was named after his maternal uncle. In 1956 he graduated from Clarkstown Central High School in New City, NY, where his father taught chemistry and physics and was the cross country coach.
In 1958, after a short time in college, Russ went to work for IBM. It was 23 years before their PC and IBM produced typewriters and business computer systems. Russ flourished in that IBM environment. He was continually educated in customer support, repair, and maintenance of large IBM computers. In 1961 he transferred to IBM offices in Syracuse and then later to Auburn, NY. His customers and employer loved him for his intelligence, attention to detail, and solid work. He retired from IBM after 36 years and went to work part-time for his (IBM) customer Welch Allyn. He worked there until 2007, when he truly retired.
Russ had three children from his first marriage to Lois (Thayer) Kincaid.
Russ married Janice Gemmell Kincaid in 1998.They lived on Owasco Lake in NY and later moved to Alexandria Bay, NY and a new home with an expansive view of the American Channel of the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands Bridge. They happily pursued many adventures together until Jan’s passing in 2017.
Russ made special friendships with numerous people throughout his life. Deep personal connections were important to him and came easily and naturally. His friends described him as gregarious, charismatic, genuine, warm, caring, thoughtful, fun loving, positive, full of life, kind, and down to earth. One of his closest friends said, “For at least 10 years of my life Russ was my best friend and we talked almost daily. He was always there for me. He would sacrifice whatever he was doing and come to my rescue immediately. This behavior in Russ was the same for any of his close friends…I saw it many times.”
Russ was a good citizen of our world. He believed in and stood up for gender and racial equality. He believed in personal freedom of identity. He was an environmentalist and was particularly committed to recycling. For most of his life he was passionate about conserving fossil fuel and drove a series of five hybrid electric vehicles.
Russ was always competitive. In high school he pole vaulted and ran on the track and cross country teams. His favorite sport was wrestling and in the first round of the county tournament he upset the top seed and continued through the brackets to win the title.
Russ had a lifelong interest in motorsports. Starting in the 1960s Russ raced a Morgan plus-4, a Lancia, and various Saabs in SCCA events including ice racing on Lake George, the Canadian Winter Rally, and at Watkins Glen. In the late 1960s Russ took his customized Saab ice racer, installed a steel roll cage to convert it for mini-stocks, and raced mostly on dirt track ovals in the Central NY region. Those years, with the first car and then with another updated Saab, he won many races and overall track championships in Central NY. In the early 1970s he moved to the more powerful and very competitive modified sportsman class where he raced for many years.
In the late 1970s, Russ stopped auto racing and, after a few weeks of lessons in Utah, took up hang gliding. He concentrated on this for some years. In his development as a pilot he purchased a variometer, a sensor with distinct beep sounds for gaining or losing altitude. With it he learned to ride updrafts and thermals to stay aloft like a bird. He had hundreds of flights, mostly in Central NY and at Lookout Mountain, TN. His longest flight was four hours and his total time aloft was 45 hours. When Russ stopped hang gliding he did it abruptly and said he didn’t think it was the kind of thing he could safely do just now and then.
Russ owned many power boats and sailboats in his life including catamarans and sailboards. Eventually he bought a Corsair F-24 Mark 1 trimaran and then he replaced it with a F-27. For over 10 years Russ cruised and raced trimarans extensively. He did this on Owasco Lake in NY, on Lake Ontario, near Cape Cod, and in the Gulf of Mexico near Ft. Walton Beach, FL. A crew member recalled, while noting their boat was not expensive or the fastest, Russ had said, ”We don’t have to win it but we want them to know we’re around.” His trophies include: “FWYC Round the Island Race Trimaran division First Place” and “2004 Corsair Nationals Sailboat Hall of Fame F-27 Winning Sailor”.
In later years, Russ concentrated on flying and building radio controlled gliders. It was another way to practice staying aloft alongside red-tailed hawks and soaring birds. One glider, a 2.6 meter wingspan Radian XL, was special. He added a variometer and interfaced its signal directly to his RC controller. Partly because of his hang gliding experience, Russ was a master. He would sit in his chair and keep that glider aloft for hours.
In the fall of 2017, Russ moved to Venice, FL. In Venice he met Mary Loeffler and they found they enjoyed each other’s company. Russ and Mary were loving partners and best friends for those last 6 years.
Throughout his life, when he had time, Russ was a fisherman, skier, hiker, and mountain climber. In his last 20 years he put many hundred miles on a series of recumbent tricycles. He said, “I don’t have a bucket list because I did it already.” Russ stayed sharp and competitive until the end. When his health was declining in the last months he mentioned he and Mary, “had a hell of a game of Scrabble.”
Russ was predeceased by his parents, brothers Lee and Daniel, wife Jan, sister-in-law Ronnie, and son-in-law Jack Deal, and grandson Joshua Deal. He is survived by his sister Janet (George) Benoit, sister-in-law Ronalee (Lee) Kincaid, children Russell Edward Kincaid Jr. (Kelly), Kathleen Jo Deal, and Meghan Kay Kincaid (Teri Ramos), grandchildren Kimber Coyle (David), Ryan Kincaid (Ryan Heller), Alissa Deal, Warren Kincaid, and Elizabeth Kincaid, great grandchildren Skye Dillard and Dante Coyle, and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews, and their children. Russ was a well-loved step-father to Jan’s children Kristan, Kate (Peter), and Jim (Rose), grandfather to Kylie, Shannon, Simone, Madeline, Anneli, Malcolm and Gabriel, and great-grandfather to Madelyn, Oliver and Freddie.
I remember how adventurous he was and his love for Jan. I envied his zest for life.
Reading this obituary I see that he was much more adventurous than I ever knew after his official retirement.
Russ you are missed.