Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

NLV Councilwoman Kincaid’s husband dies

In 1977, David Kincaid, two years out of a lengthy Air Force career and building his local insurance business, talked to his wife about her dreams.

"He was my biggest fan," said longtime North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Mary Kincaid, who at the time was yet to begin her political career. "He was always so supportive of what I did."

When Mary brought up the idea of running for office, David said: "Go for it. The men have screwed things up long enough. It's time for a woman to get the job done right."

David Nelson Kincaid, an amateur pilot whose Air Force career spanned 21 years, including three tours of duty in Vietnam, died Thursday of a heart attack at Lake Mead Hospital. He was 59.

In addition to operating Kincaid's Insurance for a dozen years, Kincaid and his wife have owned and operated Kincaid's Flower Korner in North Las Vegas since 1979. In the last two years, he had taken an active interest in the florist shop, tending to the books and managing the facility.

At the time of his death, Kincaid was helping his wife seek election to the County Commission. Kincaid says she plans to stay in the race, noting "he wanted it so much for me. I know he'll be watching."

Kincaid became a pilot after his military service ended in 1975 at Nellis Air Force Base, where the tech sergeant had served on and off for 12 years.

"He didn't own a plane, but he would fly anything he could get his hands on," Mary Kincaid said, noting that her husband had just recently joined the Civil Air Patrol.

In his spare time, Kincaid would go to North Las Vegas Airport to enjoy watching the planes take off and land.

"My husband was a man with a great sense of humor who would give anyone the shirt off his back," Kincaid said. "He loved children whether it was ours or the many others who had no fathers, yet saw him as a father figure."

In addition to the eight children and one stepchild the couple raised, 22 other children lived for brief periods in their home over the past few decades.

Kincaid, a New Jersey native, was the son of a plumbing contractor. His mother, in her youth, performed with a vaudevillian family. Her talent was whistling tunes, mimicking various musical instruments.

Although Kincaid was proud to have served so many years in the Air Force, he declined to discuss his service in Vietnam, even with his family. He did, however, give his children one bit of advice about the military: "Do it right. Go to the Air Force Academy and become an officer."

Next month, at Hurlburt Field., Fla., David Kincaid Jr., an Air Force Academy graduate, will be promoted to captain during a ceremony the Kincaids had planned to attend. Another of their sons also is an Air Force Academy graduate and an officer.

Kincaid, who had no history of heart problems, and his wife were having a tough day Wednesday. It seemed everything they did went wrong.

" 'Sure was a bad day,' he told me," Kincaid said, recalling her husband's final hours. "But, he patted my hand and said 'tomorrow will be better, because tomorrow always is better.'"

But, on Wednesday night, David Kincaid sat up in bed and was looking a bit pale. He turned to Mary and said: "Can you get me to the doctor?" She called for an ambulance, but his coronary was too massive for the doctors to save him.

In addition to his wife and son, Kincaid is survived by four other sons, John Holland of Las Vegas, James Holland and Mark Kincaid both of North Las Vegas and Frank Kincaid of Grand Forks, N.D.; four daughters, Patricia Bower of Henderson, Mary Ruppert of Gillette, Wyo., Jami Morton of Las Vegas and Kalaya Jarbsunthie of North Las Vegas; two sisters, Patricia Kincaid and Dr. Catherine Kincaid, both of Albuquerque, N.M., and 15 grandchildren.

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