Mina Fern Kincaid

A gentle and loving woman died on March 12, 2011. Mina Fern Kincaid was the wife of Ralph Kincaid Sr. and mother of Ralph Kincaid Jr. and Brad Kincaid. She died peacefully, naturally and with dignity at home in Moses Lake. 

Mina Kincaid was born July 18, 1927 to Okel and Elsie Cupp of Knox County Missouri. She was raised on the Missouri family farm. A talented and intelligent woman, she graduated from high school at age 16 and taught for a year in a one-room school. After teaching she worked for the Santa Fe Railroad as a telegraph operator and station agent.

On May 31, 1945 she married Ralph Kincaid of nearby Novelty, Missouri while he was home on a 13 day leave after graduating from the Army Air Corps Pilot School. After the war when Ralph was discharged, they settled into the Kincaid family farming operation in northeast Missouri and started a family. 

They farmed for five years, and one day while leafing through Redbook magazine, they ran across an article about the Columbia Basin Project that changed their lives dramatically. They won the right to buy a farm in the federal irrigation project when his name was pulled out of a jar containing thousands of hopeful applicants.

In 1954 they sold everything and moved their young family to Pasco, Washington. They developed one of the first irrigated farms in Block 15 north of Pasco. Later, Mina took a job with Niemi, Holland & Scott CPAs in Kennewick working in the tax library.

In 1966 they moved to Moses Lake and Mina started a 30-year career as a tax consultant for Quinn & Callahan, which became Wood & Blessing and ultimately LeMaster & Daniels. She loved her work and cherished her professional and personal relationships with her clients and their families.

In addition to her work, Mina loved reading and gardening but most of all she loved being with family. She suffered from congestive heart failure, dementia and Alzheimer's and she died peacefully at home surrounded by family. 

Mina is survived by Ralph Sr., her husband of 66 years, Ralph Jr. (son) and wife Lois Kincaid of Moses Lake, Brad Kincaid (son) and wife Piya Jacob of Tempe, AZ., grandson Jay Kincaid of Moses Lake, granddaughter Dawn and husband Lou Grespan and great-grandchildren Gwendolyn, Thomas and Valerie Grespan currently living in Tokyo, Japan.

In lieu of flowers please donate to your favorite charity. Knowing Mina, she would ask that her friends spend time with their families and celebrate and cherish that special bond. She will be honored at a private family celebration of her life at a later date.