Kevin M. LaCount

Family & friends are respectfully invited to attend a Memorial Visitation on Wednesday, January 4th from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., in the Vertuccio & Smith, Home for Funerals, 773 Broadway (Rt. 107) Revere for Kevin M. LaCount, who died unexpectedly on Monday, December 19th at his home in Chelsea, MA, he was 66 years old. A Prayer Service will close the visitation gathering in the Funeral Home at 7:30pm.

Kevin was first born to his parents, Mary Lou (Ingerson) LaCount, and the late Harry P. LaCount, Sr., in Somerville in 1956. He began his education at St Anne’s School in Somerville, then after his family moved to Arlington, he attended St James’ School, followed by Junior High West (now Ottoson JHS), graduating from Arlington High with the class of 1974. It was in Junior High that he first met his future wife, Valerie Rae Johnson. As a matter of fact, he & his best friend, Jimmy Jenkins used to give her a really hard time about some of her fashion choices…before that term was even a thing! He loved to share that if anyone had asked at the time, if he would ever be married to her, “he would have kicked their butts up & down the halls of Jr High West”. Fast forward to high school, older & wiser, one night he asked Valerie out, and she said yes…til she realized the black leather jacket side of Kevin scared the goody-two-shoes side of her and she had to turn him down. Remaining friends, after a few more years, he tried again. Finally, the timing was right! Fast forward 48 years…who’s scary now?

In 1977, newly married, Kevin & Valerie moved first to Somerville, then Malden, where Valerie dragged him, kicking & screaming, to his first community theatre audition. He got the part, fell in love with acting and was in a number of productions, with a number of groups, over the next 3 decades. Additionally, Kevin attended & graduated from Northeast School of Broadcasting. This lead to a couple of Radio DJ spots at WALE in Fall River & WLKN in Maine. In 1985 they purchased the shop where Valerie had been working & renamed it Washington Park Florist. In 1987, their first born, Branigan Lei, made her debut, and shortly after that they moved to Chelsea to be closer to the shop. Working with the Boston Globe, in 1988, Branigan had to be hospitalized for kidney issues. Asking for time off, his supervisor gave him a hard time. Notice was given which began a 20 year window of Kevin & Valerie working together full time at the shop. This gave Kevin the opportunity to became interested in the balloon industry, eventually becoming one of the first 59 Certified Balloon Artists (CBA) in the world. Additionally, he was one of the first designers to begin incorporating florals into balloon work. Because of his skill in this area, he travelled across the country & internationally, to teach other professionals in the industry, long before YouTube existed. As the business expanded, the shop relocated to a larger space and in 1990, their son, Damien Dakotah, forced his sister to share the familial stage. As the kids grew, they caught the acting bug & got involved with theatre. Kevin was a very proud dad and could always be counted on to cover the shop so that Valerie could be where she needed to be for BnBear!

In 2008, with both kids in college, Kevin took a part time job with Home Depot, in Saugus to help with tuitions. When the economy tanked that same year, he was offered a full time position & grabbed it. He moved from store associate to the travelling MET team when the opportunity presented itself, and when the teams became store-centric, he was conveniently located at the Home Depot in Chelsea. All this time, remaining Valerie’s bestest back-up at the shop & self-titled longest term employee! Recipient of many, many Homer Awards, throughout Covid, Kevin was many times one of the few & sometimes, the only member of his team to report for work.

 Those are the facts, but anyone who knows Kevin, knows there’s way more than facts! Falling in love with motorcycling, long distance annual solo bike trips, lots of family vacations, stays at Eden Pines, master of puns (or PUNishment, if you ask the BMRH), gardening, Rotarian, Mason, lover of the long way around, man of many words, cribbage teacher, IPA aficionado, Church & Karaoke singer, Spiritualist, lover of his canine kids, slave to his feline kid, big fan of his Kowloon folks, and huge cheerleader of the Rusty Can… their food, their servers & the line!!!!!

Valerie, Branigan & Damien would like him to know that he will forever be the first man we remember & the last man we’ll forget!

Kevin will always be the much loved, first born son to Mary Lou (Ingerson) LaCount and the late Harry P. LaCount, Sr.  He is the greatly missed husband of almost 46 years to Valerie Rae (Johnson) LaCount of Chelsea. As their loving & devoted dad, he leaves his daughter, Branigan Reed of Salem & her husband, Dewayne, as well as his son, Damien LaCount of Peabody & his fiancee, Anetta Rauf to carry on his legacy of love as he continues to be proud of his bonus grandson, Vaugn Reed.  Additionally, he leaves brothers Harry P. LaCount, Jr. & his wife Sue, Dennis LaCount & his wife, Jan, and his sister, Karen LaCount of Chelmsford.  In addition, he leaves his brother-in-law & riding buddy, Erick Johnson and his fiancee, Liz Metcalf of Weymouth. Brian, Karen, Michael, Heather, Brett, Stephen, Mike & Dan know that Uncle Kevin will be watching over all of them & their families. Kevin was predeceased by his sister, Tracey (LaCount / Lucontoni) Savage but we know there was a joyful reunion when he crossed. Since he got over the Rainbow Bridge first, he’ll have the company of Noodle, Bito, Shredder & NuttaButta while Valerie takes care of Kneesaa, Gizmo, Stripe, Calliope and occasionally, his grandpuppy, Phoenix.

Yes, we have a flower shop, but…If you would like to do something to honor Kevin’s memory, we would respectfully ask that you instead consider a donation in his name.

His preference was to the church that taught us about Spiritualism and brought him comfort, where he had become the music coordinator.

Donations can be sent to:

GBCS (Greater Boston Church of Spiritualism)

c/o Rev. Mary DiGiovanni

24 Arlington St.

Brighton, MA 02135

Donations can also be made thru Venmo @GBCSpiritualism

We would also be honored, should you choose instead to donate to a charity that aligns with your concerns.

The world will be missing his kindness, let’s band together to try to make up for the loss.

Services

Memorial Visiting Hours

Wednesday, January 4th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Funeral Home

Funeral Service

Wednesday, January 4th at 7:30 p.m. in the Funeral Home

Interment

Will be Private

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