Five-decade resident of the Mount Vernon community, William Charles “Chuck” Kincannon died on Saturday Morning July 1, 2017. He was 94 years old. He and his wife Murice have lived in the community since November of 1966. Both have been active members of Aldersgate UMC during these last five decades where he served as a youth counselor for six years, and on various church committees, including an early committee to organize the Aldersgate Church Community Theatre.
He met the love of his life, Murice Jean Miniard of Olathe, Kansas and married in 1946. Last November they celebrated their 70-year love affair. One of the legacies of their relationship is three children who are active members of the community. His eldest son, Rev. Dr. Keary Kincannon is the founding and current pastor of Rising Hope United Methodist Mission Church. He and his wife, Judy Borsher, are active in serving the needs of the most marginalized in the community. His daughter, Rev. Dr. Karla Kincannon, and her husband, Rev. Dr. Jim Noseworthy, left Garrett Theological Seminary in Chicago to return home to be near him. Karla Kincannon, a published author and artist, is currently one of the pastors at Aldersgate UMC. His youngest son and his wife, Kirk and Denise Kincannon, also live in the area. Kirk Kincannon is the executive director of the Fairfax County Park Authority. He has also served as the executive director of the Parks and Recreation Departments of Boulder, Co., Alexandria, Va., and Wytheville, Va.
Chuck Kincannon was born in 1923 in Stephen’s County, Okla. to tenant farmers. He grew up picking cotton in the fields during the era of the dust bowl. He worked his way through college, graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma with a B.S. in education. He was commissioned as an officer in the Navy at Notre Dame in 1943, studied meteorology at Cal Tech, and served as a Naval meteorologist for his military career. During WW II, he served in the Marshall Islands on Majuro.
When he retired in 1964, as a commander, he returned to Oklahoma to work on a post-graduate degree in meteorology and to teach school. Within two years, he was called back to Washington, D.C. to work as a civilian for the Department of Defense on a program that developed the first weather satellites for the United States. Toward the end of his career, he dealt mostly with satellite weather missions and space weather observations, retiring for the second time in 1988.
He was a member of the Naval Weather Service Association and past member of American Meteorological Society. He loved his family, faith, friends, fishing, food and poker.
He is survived by his wife, children, 10 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, a sister, and several nieces and nephews.
The family will receive friends and guests at Demaine Funeral Home, 502 S. Washington St., Alexandria, on Friday, July 7 from 6-8 p.m. The memorial service will be held at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 1301 Collingwood Road, Alexandria, on Saturday, July 8 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Rising Hope United Methodist Mission Church and Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Alexandria.