Kinloch N. Yellott III
Former owner of the Haven Corp. competed in sailing events and headed a charitable foundation that helps Baltimore children
Kinloch Nelson Yellott III, the president of a Baltimore philanthropic foundation who was a competitive racing sailor, died of a heart attack Aug. 5 at his Monkton home. He was 67.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Cockeysville, he was the son of Kinloch Nelson Yellott Jr., a businessman, and Ann Lux Benet Yellott, a homemaker. He attended St. Paul’s School for Boys and was a 1969 graduate of Gilman School, where he played lacrosse.
He earned a bachelor of science in engineering and applied science at Yale University, where he also played varsity lacrosse and was a member of the Saint Anthony Hall fraternity and literary society.
Mr. Yellott was Yale’s sailing captain and competed in races on Long Island Sound. Family members said sailing was one of his lifelong pastimes. He taught himself to sail as a 13-year-old after his father built him a vessel.
After he completed his schooling, he joined the Haven Corp., an ink and adhesives business that had been owned and operated by the Yellott family. He later sold the business.
In 1978 he joined the board of the Thomas Wilson Foundation, a charity that distributes money annually with a goal of improving the health and welfare of children in Baltimore City. He became its president in 2011 and served until his death. The foundation is named for a man The Sun described as a Quaker convert who made and lost a fortune twice in his shipping business.
“He very much made certain that we were honoring Mr. Wilson’s intent,” said Mike McCarthy, a fellow board member. “Kin was true to that mission. He was thoughtful about which groups should receive our funds. He also a great mediator when there were differing opinions on levels of support for certain requests. He was diligent in researching and visiting the organizations that received our grants.”
Among the charities Mr. Yellott and his fellow trustees assisted were Paul’s Place After School program, Woodberry Crossing Summer Camp and the Middle Grades Partnership, a scholarship program for city children.
“He was a careful listener and in a social situation, he was a welcoming presence and always had a warm smile,” Mr. McCarthy said.
His wife, J. Sands “Sandy” McNeil Yellott, said: “Kin liked helping people. As a sailor he would assist another boat in distress. During a snowstorm he went out for the stranded.”
Mr. Yellott was a fisherman and sportsman. He spent much of his time outdoors. As a boy he went on marlin fishing trips out of Ocean City.
“He loved the Chesapeake Bay and nature and worked on a study of the demise of its menhaden population ,” said his daughter, Margaret McNeil Yellott of Boston.
He spent a part of his summer in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he sailed. His family said he preferred the strong, fresh winds off the island’s coast for sailing.
Mr. Yellott sailed with friends and family. He competed in Laser Worlds in Kiel, Germany, and match racing in the Columbus Cup on the Chesapeake Bay. He won an event at the Edgartown Race Weekend and was a Constable Cup winner at Nantucket.
He competed with the Team Baltimore, a sail racing team, in the 1990 Cadillac Columbus Cup Regatta. The event was designed to showcase the the Chesapeake Bay as a venue for match races. His friends said the success of the Columbus Cup helped bring the Whitbread Round the World Cup race to the Chesapeake in 1998.
“We would have liked to have seen a little more wind yesterday,” Mr. Yellott said in a1990 Sun story about the Columbus race. “Still, we had a very close race with Japan, and it all came down to one leeward mark rounding where they beat us by about 4 feet. Last year we beat the Soviets, but we weren’t even in the hunt with any of the other boats. This year we had an awful lot of fun and my crew was superb. They were hot. In every race we were definitely right there.”
Mr. Yellott was a member of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. He raised money for the organization and collected water samples along the Gunpowder Falls to measure pesticide runoff. He was also a bird hunter and skeet shooter.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Sept. 26 at Saint James Episcopal Church in Monkton.
In addition to his wife, who works in business development for Douron and is a former landscape architect, and daughter, survivors include a son, Kinloch Nelson Yellott IV of New York City; his mother, who lives in Hunt Valley; and a sister, Ann Lux Yellott of Ruxton.