LaVonne Kincaid

LaVonne Kincaid, a long-time resident of the Town of Linn, died on October 10 at Golden Years Health Care Center in Lake Geneva. She was 87. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Iowa City, Iowa, LaVonne was educated in Iowa City and Clinton schools and at the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts. She was the daughter of the late Alice Joan Kingsbury Anderson, who studied ballet at the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts in New York and was director of the Creative Arts Department at Mount Saint Clare College in Clinton. Later, Mrs. Anderson taught ballet and gymnastics in association with Harriet Stevens in Delavan. LaVonne’s father, Earl Ross Anderson, an artist and professional photographer, studied at the University of Iowa before attending the American Academy of Art in Chicago. For 35 years, he owned and operated the Anderson Photographic Studio in Iowa City.

LaVonne was preceded in death by her husband, architect D. Thomas Kincaid (1930 – 2024), who spent his childhood summers in Williams Bay, and whose father, Harrison A. Kincaid, was a photographer at Yerkes Observatory and George Williams College Camp.

LaVonne worked at Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency in Chicago and was a volunteer for the Women’s Boards of the Chicago Hearing Society, the Juvenile Protective Association, and the Infant Welfare Society. In Lake Geneva, she was a member and secretary of the Parents’ Club at Reek Elementary School where her daughter was a student. LaVonne became a real estate agent in 1986, a career she enjoyed for 25 years with the Clewlow Agency, Keefe Real Estate, and the Rauland Agency.

As a friend observed, LaVonne spoke little about her life and achievements, but those who knew her well will remember her kindness and concern for family and friends, her commitment to her career, her keen sense of humor, her skill as a hostess and creative cook, her enthusiasm for travel particularly to France and Scotland, and her deep affection for her dogs, who returned that love 100-fold. She also developed a serious interest in genealogy, focusing mainly on her mother’s Kingsbury ancestors, the earliest of whom had roots in this country dating back to 1600 in what is now Massachusetts.

LaVonne Kincaid is survived by her daughter Britt Nicole Laine-James (Brandon James) of Ontonagon, Michigan; stepson Dale Thomas Kincaid Jr. (Lisa) of Monterey, California; stepdaughter Maia Kincaid (Devery Galloway) of Sedona, Arizona; and stepdaughter Joy Kincaid-Griffiths (Dr. Stan Griffiths) of Idaho Falls, Idaho. She is also survived by friends in many places including Wisconsin, Georgia, and Fairhope, Alabama, where the Kincaids lived for a number of winters. In recent months, LaVonne became especially devoted to the staff members at Golden Years in Walworth and Lake Geneva, where she was the grateful recipient of their care, encouragement, and friendship.

Toynton Funeral Home in Walworth is assisting the family with arrangements. A private memorial service is planned for a later date in Three Lakes, Wisconsin, where LaVonne and Tom Kincaid had a home they loved and where LaVonne’s mother and grandparents lived for many summers.