Margaret Kincaid Look

Dec 1, 2019

Margaret K. Look, affectionately known to her family as “Meema,” died Oct. 21, 2019, in Billings, Montana, at the age of 103.

Margaret was born Aug. 5, 1916, in Bristol, Virginia, to Samuel C. Kincaid Jr. and Anna Margaret Baron. She grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the Ellis School in Pittsburgh and later from Cornell University in 1936, where she was a member of the crew team.

Margaret K. Look, affectionately known to her family as “Meema,” died Oct. 21, 2019, in Billings, Montana, at the age of 103.

Margaret was born Aug. 5, 1916, in Bristol, Virginia, to Samuel C. Kincaid Jr. and Anna Margaret Baron. She grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the Ellis School in Pittsburgh and later from Cornell University in 1936, where she was a member of the crew team.

Margaret resided for many years in Chautauqua County, New York, where she worked at the Jamestown Post Journal as news editor. After she retired, she was a regular contributor to the Post Journal with her biweekly column, “Stop, Look and Listen.”

In 1963, she married Travis Look. In 1976, they moved to Powell, where she continued her newspaper career as a reporter and columnist for the Powell Tribune, a period of years spanning the late 1970s into the 1980s.

Former Powell Tribune colleagues remember her warmly.

Steve Prosinski, who went on to become editor of the Billings Gazette, was a University of Wyoming graduate fresh out of college when he came to the Powell Tribune.

“Margaret set a wonderful example for a young journalist just starting out in the newspaper business. She was so wise ... a great storyteller, a gifted writer, a no-nonsense reporter, and a warm and caring colleague. She had a wry sense of humor, too, which endeared her to her many friends.”

Beryl Churchill, a National Newspaper Association award winner for the “Looking at Agriculture” monthly special section which she edited for the Powell Tribune, was both a co-worker and close friend.

“Margaret could paint a picture with words bringing the reader into the moment. She was a stickler for correct grammar and proper punctuation. I remember her dismay when she read someone had ‘gone missing,’” Beryl recalled. “Why didn’t they just say he was missing?” she would growl. “She was my mentor, but most of all, my delightful friend for nearly 30 years.”

Upon the death of her husband, Margaret became a full-time resident in Nye, Montana, where she was very active in the Stillwater Valley community. Nye was her favorite place on earth, and she loved to have visitors so she could show off her little slice of paradise.
Margaret loved to travel and spend time with her family and great-grandchildren.

She is survived by her two children, Peter G.K. Bentley of Jamestown, New York, and Anna Bentley Dawson (John B. Dawson) of Venice, Florida; three grandchildren, John Bilton Dawson, Jr. (Chip) of Nye, Montana, Amy Dawson Stover (David) of Pepper Pike, Ohio, and Sara Dawson Gregory (Michael Jr.) of Saratoga Springs, New York. She was a proud great-grandmother of 10: John Bilton Dawson III (Trey), Madeline Margaret Dawson, Owen Kincaid Dawson, Bentley Dawson Stover, Samuel Cholley Stover, Jackson Donald Stover, Michael William Gregory III, Margaret Grace Gregory, Mark Walker Gregory and John Dawson Gregory.

She was preceded in death by her husband, W. Travis Look; her parents; her half-brother, Samuel Kincaid III and her half-sister, Mary Bert Kincaid Mangis. Her half-sister, Jean Kincaid Hepper, resides in Georgia.

A celebration of life for Margaret will be held in Jamestown, New York, at the convenience of her family. Memorials may be made to the Nye Community Foundation, P.O. Box 528, Nye, MT 59061; the Nye Volunteer Fire Department or a charity of your choice.
Smith Funeral Chapels Inc. of Billings is handling arrangements.