Kincaide’s ‘Kids’ Check in Regularly

Serving as coordinator of admissions, Charlotte Kincaide was like a mother to thousands of OSU veterinary medicine students.

“Oh, yes, they were all like my kids. I tried to provide a shoulder to cry on, a sympathetic ear and words of encouragement when a student felt overwhelmed,” Kincaide says. “I also made sure my candy jar was always full.”

Although retired after 19 years at OSU, she values the connections she made from 1972 to 1991 doing the job she loved. She corresponds regularly with a number of former students and always attends the Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) meetings in Tulsa, where she particularly enjoys the “Old-Timers” luncheon.

Kincaide is justly proud that in 1988 the OVMA presented her with the very first Distinguished Service Award. “I’ll never forget how stunned I was,” she says.

Also stunning to her was the class of 1985’s dedication to her of the Aesculapius. “I was just doing the work I loved. That’s all the reward I needed,” she says.

Fond memories of all her students bring smiles to her face every day. She says she felt privileged to be the person who telephoned the successful applicants to tell them the good news and hear their joyful, and sometimes comical, responses.

One of her most poignant memories concerns a young man who had just begun first-year classes in 1990 when he was called to serve in the Gulf War. “He came into my office distressed and worried that he would lose his place. I reassured him and told him to go home, spend as much time as possible with his family before he was deployed and not to worry about it because he would have a place when he returned,” she says.

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I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the recent issue of Vet Cetera! I have kept it on my coffee table and pick it up often just to read again about so many of my “kids” and admissions committee members who are such good friends.

I was particularly interested in the cover photo — faculty members Drs. Washburn and Streeter, whom I saw through four years. Then I have to wonder if the students are offspring of my “kids” — Jake Boyer (Ron?) and Stana Pope (Stan?). And is Mark Barker related to L.D. (one of the first practitioner members of the admissions committee)?

Every page contained updates on so many of my DVM friends — faculty, staff and students. Thanks so much!

Sincerely, Charlotte

“The next I heard from him was a phone call from the desert in Saudi Arabia. He returned in the fall of 1991. I lost track of him after he graduated, but recently I received a sweet letter from him, reminding me of what I had said to him and telling me what it meant to him.”

It’s the dedication of employees like Kincaide that makes OSU’s CVHS stand out above the rest.

“Charlotte is an extraordinary person who had a real passion to serve those young veterinary hopefuls,” says J. Mack Olyer, emeritus associate dean. “She was their confidante and their greatest supporter. I am also the beneficiary of her generosity, dedication and meticulous attention to detail. All of us are fortunate to have her as a friend.”

Keep your college and fellow alumni informed of pertinent events in your life by sending your news to:

Vet Cetera

Center for Veterinary Health Sciences

308 McElroy Hall

Stillwater, OK 74078-2011

(405) 744-6740 PHOnE

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