The many interests and accomplishments that shaped George F. Kain Jr.’s life were united by a genuine desire to help others and make the world around him a better place, his family says.
Kain, who died at his longtime home in Reston on Sept. 20 at the age of 90, was driven by a commitment to service, whether he was developing defensive plans for the U.S. Navy, helping shape Reston in its earliest years or even supporting emergency response teams with the telecommunications company Sprint.
“He was a very caring person who gave a lot of his time to try and help make things better,” Sylvia Kain, his wife of 51 years, told FFXnow.
A New Jersey native born in Englewood on April 25, 1935, Kain went on to become a captain in the Navy, where he served for 30 years on both active and reserve duty. He was also among the “founding fathers” of Reston, collaborating with founder Robert E. Simon and other residents to establish a vision for the new planned community.
When Kain first moved to Northern Virginia in the 1970s, Reston was still relatively rural with plenty of woods and dirt roads, according to his son James Kain.
“You could drive out to Dulles Airport never pass a single car sometimes. That’s how remote it was at the time,” James said.
Kain initially moved to the area on behalf of his employer, Sperry Research and Development, a New York-based company that was looking to set up an office near D.C. However, he quickly “fell in love with the place” and got involved in the master planning effort that was led initially by Simon and then, later, by Gulf Oil, James says.
James and Sylvia both remember a regular stream of visitors to their home in north Reston, as the planners gathered for meetings.
Described by both James and the Washington Post as a “fiscal conservative” who didn’t like to see money wasted or sitting around unspent, Kain served at various points as president of the Reston Citizens Association, treasurer of Reston Association and founder of the Alliance of Reston Clusters and Homeowners. He was also suggested as a potential mayor when community members were considering getting Reston incorporated as a town.
Kain would also appear on TV and speak before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to advocate for Simon’s vision of a diverse, accessible community, where people could congregate at different village centers and find everything they need to work, live and play without needing to get into a car.
“Reston had an absolute blueprint from the very beginning,” James said. “… Oftentimes, knowing how involved my dad was, he would get inquiries from other parts of the country, from around the world about the idea of a planned community, because they looked at Reston as being such an enormous success.”
Though Kain stepped back from his roles in RCA and RA over the past decade, he remained a well-known local figure. His involvement in the community also included stints as a Reston Little League coach and an assistant Boy Scouts’ master for Troop 673 in Great Falls.
“Even up until him passing away, if people in the neighborhood had a question about something, if they needed help with anything, regardless of what it was, they would always approach my father and ask him for his guidance, because he would always know who to turn to,” James said. “He was able to get things done. He knew how to talk to people and bring people together, which isn’t always very easy.”
Kain is survived by Silvia, James and his other children, Erin, Jeff, and Jerryl, along with grandchild George.
His viewing will commence at Adams-Green Funeral Home in Herndon tomorrow (Friday) from 6-8 p.m. A memorial service will be held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (1133 Reston Avenue) on Saturday (Oct. 11), and Kain will be laid to rest on a future date at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, according to his obituary.
In lieu of flowers, Kain’s family is requesting that donations be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on his behalf. The cause was important to Kain, as the disease led to the death of his daughter, Kendall, when she was 8.
James, who has cystic fibrosis, says he hoped to follow his father’s footsteps into the Navy, but the associated medical challenges prevented him finishing training. Instead, he’s now studying veterinary medicine and hoping to still practice it in the military, inspired by the commitment to service that guided both his father and mother — a retired teacher who worked at Langston Hughes and Cooper middle schools.
“Service is basically what it comes down to for my father — service towards others and teaching me things about always helping others and not doing it because you expect anything in return for it, just because it’s the right thing to do,” James said.
