Kevin Edward Kinkade

Kevin Edward Kinkade, 71, of Vandalia and Columbia, MO passed away on Friday, Feb 7, 2025, at Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach, FL. 

Funeral services will be held 3:00 pm Saturday, February 15, 2025, at Waters Funeral Home in Vandalia. Burial will follow in the Vandalia Cemetery. Visitation celebrating Kevin's life will be held 1:00 pm until the time of the service Saturday at the Waters Funeral Home.

Kevin was born February 27, 1953, in Vandalia, Missouri, the son of Thomas and Beryl Kinkade. He grew up in Vandalia and graduated from Vandalia High School. He was married August 8, 2003, to Doris Elaine Fischer.

Kevin had love for his family, friends, pharmacy, MU football and the KC Chiefs. Kevin became a Tigers football season ticketholder as soon as he moved to Columbia, and over the years his friends came from miles around to be at his tailgates. There was a special “away” game every year to bond with his best friends under the MU banner.

Kevin’s pharmacy career started during his junior year at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, working for the summer at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Hannibal, Missouri. He returned to St. Elizabeth’s after graduation in 1977 and worked as a staff pharmacist for four years. Kevin then moved to Columbia and was a staff pharmacist at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital prior to becoming Director of Pharmacy at Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital in Columbia in 1979.

During this time Kevin became active in an area hospital pharmacy organization and the Missouri Society of Hospital Pharmacists, serving as chair of the legislative committee, on the board of directors and as president. Through these activities he became known to people in state regulatory and political affairs and was hired as Executive Director of the Missouri Board of Pharmacy in 1984.

As Executive Director he was responsible for leading the Governor-appointed Board Members through many changes in pharmacy practice over the next twenty-two years, including the writing of numerous pharmacy legislative proposals and regulations. During this time, he was also a member of the executive board of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, serving in all executive offices, including president and chairman of the executive committee, and other committees, for eighteen years.

During and after his tenure with the Board of Pharmacy he also served as a member or chair of many professional or government sponsored health care groups and task forces, including the Midwest Pharmacy Conference; the Missouri Joint Committee on Health Care Policy and Planning; the Missouri Task Force on Misuse, Abuse and Diversion of Prescription Drugs; the National Institute for Standards in Pharmacy Credentialing; the Governor’s Commission on Patient Safety; the Board of Pharmacy Advisory Committee on Sterile Compounding; and the Board of Pharmacy Advisory Committee on Hospital Pharmacy.

Kevin made numerous presentations to public, private, government and educational groups on pharmacy law, general pharmacy practice and patient safety, some on an annual basis, beginning with a continuing pharmacology education course for nurses for the Missouri Nurses Association in 1977. He was a guest lecturer for both the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Pharmacy.

Based on his active membership through the years and his performance on behalf of pharmacy practice through the Board of Pharmacy, Kevin was recognized with honors and awards by several organizations, including: Mid-Missouri Society of Hospital Pharmacists Pharmacist of the Year, Missouri Society of Hospital Pharmacists Pharmacist of the Year, Missouri Society of Hospital Pharmacists Garrison Achievement Award, Missouri Pharmacy Association President’s Award, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Resolution for Lifetime Service, St. Louis College of Pharmacy Alumni Association Outstanding Achievement Award, and Proclamation by the Governor of Missouri for Service to the State.

After he retired from the Missouri Board of Pharmacy, Kevin started K2 Pharmacy Consulting Services, consulting with hospitals and pharmacists in managing their pharmacies, and with pharmaceutical companies to ensure compliance with legal matters. Kevin also served as director of pharmacy services for several years for Cooper County Memorial Hospital in Boonville, Missouri and Lafayette Regional Medical Center in Lexington, Missouri.

Kevin was preceded in death by his parents, brother-in-law Doug Blattner and sister-in-law Sharon Gentry.

Kevin survives by his wife; daughter Serena Kinkade; stepsons Steven Fischer, John Fischer (Danielle) and Brandon Fischer; grandchildren Evie Kinkade, Jenni Elliott, Nikholas Fischer, Nakayla Fischer, Christopher Fischer and Alexis Fischer; great-grandchildren Kai Martin, Brantley Fischer, Karter Fischer, Luka Fischer and Safari Smith, sister-in-law Janis Blattner; brother-in-law Thomas Christopher (Cheryl); and extended family Lacie Tarrants and Dan Elliott (Renee).

Pallbearers will be Steven Fischer, John Fischer, George Fischer, Tom Christopher, Trey Pope, Joe Tonnies and Fred Tonnies.

Online condolences may be made to the family and video tribute viewed on Kevin memorial page at www.watersfuneral.com