Kevin Michael Kane

Kevin Kane, beloved husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend passed away January 9th, 2026. He was born in Homestead Florida, September 11, 1960, and experienced many parts of the US growing up in a large Air Force family. In the late 70’s the family settled in Cullowhee, NC. There, he completed his senior year of high school and began his college education at Western Carolina. He transferred to NC State’s College of Design, where he met his wife Myra and graduated with a professional degree in Architecture. His generosity within his community was evident in his life and work. His fingerprints are left on the design community and on schools, universities, fire-stations, recreational facilities and buildings across the state.

Kevin and Myra married in 1986 and raised two daughters, Caeley and Brienna. They’ve spent time traveling, adventuring outdoors, gardening, gathering, and working on projects like chicken coops and back decks. He taught them to fall in love with goldfinches, “fingernail moons”, blue irises, shelf lichens and so many other natural wonders. He tried to convince them to love weeding, but they’d really rather eat the ripe tomato!

Kevin loved nature, his church. He was in his happy place hunting, fishing, camping, and rocking on the front porch, with or without a good book. He and his buddies camped and fished at Shackleford Banks every Fall. On a recent trip to Iceland with Myra he was able check the Northern Lights off his bucket list.

Kevin had a long-time dream of hiking the Appalachian Trail. He spent his childhood paper boy savings on a pair of hiking boots, which he later had bronzed as a family joke and keepsake. After over 40 years at Davis Kane Architects, he retired in 2020 with a plan to hike the AT from Georgia to Maine. Not long after setting out, the trail closed due to Covid. He began painting watercolors of all the inspirations he had collected from the journey so far. In 2023, he returned to through-hiking with his trail name “Sketch” and trekked all the way to Vermont, before realizing he might need a new knee. He got one! His plan was to start back in May and finish the 644 miles to Mount Katahdin in Maine.

Kevin is deeply missed by his girls - his wife Myra and daughters Caeley (Daniel) and Brienna (Alex); by his parents, Bill and Linda; and by his siblings, Duncan (Chris), Kristin, Lorin, Robin (Melissa), and Jonathan (Heather). He cherished time with family and recently visited Utah’s national parks with his two sisters. Much of his family gathered this Christmas and celebrated his father's 90th birthday. He will always be his dad’s “Bear” and his mom’s “Smiling Boy.”

Services were held on Saturday January 17th, 2:00 pm at the JC Raulston Arboretum, 4425 Beryl Rd., Raleigh. Kevin's celebration of life service may be viewed at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_hAP6lp3pka6lynFLsiVb7TrT2sSuruy/view

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy - or take a hike!

Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's St. Raleigh, NC, is serving the Kane family.