KENNEDY, Gertrude (Spinharney) (1902 - 1993)

KENNEDY, SPINHARNEY, BUSH, JACOBE, PLETESCHELE, SCHMELLEN, GRIGSBY, HOWELL

Posted By: County Coordinator (email)
Date: 6/14/2025 at 18:19:34

Gertrude Kennedy, 90, Cherokee, died May 5 at her daughter's home on Long Beach, Calif. She had been a resident of Cherokee County nearly all of her life.

Services will be held Wednesday at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Burial will be in the Mount Calvary Cemetery, Cherokee.

She was born Nov. 29, 1902, in Cherokee to Stephan and Sophia Bush Spinharney. She attended school in Cherokee. In 1921, she married Dewey Kennedy in Sioux City. He preceded her in death in 1947.

She as a member of the VFS Auxiliary, Parish Caring Prayer Group, historian for the Multiple Miracle Moms, Cherokee County Historical Society, served on the election board for many years, was named Lady of the Year in 1990. She received a civic award for saving the life of a small child caught in a house fire. She was a tremendously hardworking and caring person and made the best cinnamon rolls anywhere. She also did caning (chairs) in her home.

She is an extraordinary lady who reared seven children, mainly by herself after her husband died. She is characterized by one of her friends as “the most generous and unselfish person I have ever known.”

She is survived by four daughters, Edythe Jacobe and her husband Neil, Long Beach, Calif.; Karen Pleteschele, Saratoga, Calif.; Linda Schmellen and her husband Tome, Chico, Calif.; Mary Grigsby, Chico, calif.; two sons, Thomas Kennedy and his wife Joan, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Michael Kennedy and his wife Janice, Sioux City; one brother, Dr. Stephen Spinharney and his wife Mary, Sanora, Calif.; 23 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband; four brothers; three sisters; one daughter in infancy; and one daughter, Mrs. Jeanne Howell in 1987.
(Source: Former Cherokee County Historical Society scrapbook; hand dated 5-8-93)