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Vincent William DeCoursey
(1917 - 1991)
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The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)
Vincent W. DeCoursey Sr., 73, Leawood, a former dairy executive and past executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, died April 10, 1991, at Providence-St. Margaret Health Center. Mr. DeCoursey was primary owner and president of the Allvine Dairy Co. from 1960 to 1962, and vice president and general manager of the Hawthorn-Mellody dairy from 1962 to 1967. Earlier he was a co-owner and vice president of the DeCoursey Creamery Co. He was president of the Kansas Ice Cream and Milk Institute in 1951 and 1960. Mr. DeCoursey served on the boards of directors of Commercial National Bank of Kansas City, Kan., and Metcalf State Bank. He had served on the board of directors at Providence-St. Margaret Health Center since 1971 and had been its president since 1980. He also served on the health center's corporate and health care foundation boards and Founders Fund committee. Mr. DeCoursey was a founder and former executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference and a founder of the Kansas Association of Non-Public Schools. He was past president of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors and a former member of the U.S. Catholic Conference Committee. He was a member of St. Ann's Catholic Church, Prairie Village, and the Knights of Columbus, the Knights of St. Gregory and Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. He was a 1939 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a member of the Notre Dame Club of Kansas City. He was a former editor of the Scholastic newspaper at Notre Dame, and he received the university's Dome Award. He was a board member of Project Equality and a member of the Civil Rights Commission of Kansas City, Kan. He was a founder and former chairman of the Public Assistance Coalition of Kansas and former chairman of the Recreation Commission of Kansas City, Kan. He was a former board member of the Kansas State and Kansas City, Kan., chambers of commerce and former president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City, Kan. He was a member of the Serra Club, Common Cause and the Carriage Club. He received the B'nai B'rith Brotherhood Award in 1968 and the Wyandotte County Bar Association's Liberty Bell Award in 1973. He was a former member of the Starlight Theatre board and the Bicentennial Committee of the United States. He was a lifelong area resident. Survivors include his wife, Helen C. DeCoursey of the home; six sons, Vincent W. DeCoursey Jr., Kansas City, Thomas DeCoursey, Leawood, Robert DeCoursey, Prairie Village, David DeCoursey, Wheaton, Ill., Stephen DeCoursey, Batavia, Ill., and John DeCoursey, Wichita; two brothers, William P. DeCoursey, Mission, and John E. DeCoursey, Orange, Calif.; three sisters, Regina Sinsky, Milwaukee, Sister Regina DeCoursey, Leavenworth, and Mary Ann Stehley, Fillmore, Calif.; and 12 grandchildren. Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Ann's Catholic Church, Prairie Village; burial in Resurrection Cemetery, Lenexa. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the church, where prayer services will be at 7 p.m. The family requests no flowers and suggests contributions to the Providence-St. Margaret Health Center Founders Fund or the St. Mary College Foundation, Leavenworth. The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)
Well done
The plain facts of the obituary of Vince DeCoursey outlined a lifetime of service to the community. DeCoursey spent many of his years in the dairy business, but he poured his energy and time into a variety of worthwhile civic, religious and governmental activities. A selected group show his contribution. He was a member of the Providence-St. Margaret Health Center board for some 20 years, as well as its corporate and foundation boards. DeCoursey helped found and served as executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference. He was a former member of the U.S. Catholic Conference Committee. Vincent W. DeCoursey Sr., who has died at the age of 73, was a man of tremendous energy that found an outlet in good works. He had amazingly diversified interests, and he served them all well. |
