Kennedy, James Clifford 1900 - 1980

KENNEDY, BROWN, BURNIGHT

Posted By: Doris Hoffman, Volunteer (email)
Date: 11/20/2010 at 23:57:08

James Clifford Kennedy, 79, Okoboji, Iowa, formerly of Akron, died Wednesday (April 9, 1980) in a Sioux Falls hospital of a brief illness.

Services were held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Schroeder funeral home in Akron. The Rev. David J. Roy officiated. Burial was in Riverside Cemetery under direction of Schroeder Funeral Home, "Akron. Graveside rites were conducted by Hoschler American Legion post of Akron.

Pallbearers were Lyle Jacobs, John Dirks, Jeff Blanchard, Fay Kerr, Mac Thorson, and John Kennedy.

Mr. Kennedy was born May 1, 1900, to Iva Ervin Kennedy and David Eugene Kennedy in Akron. His boyhood was spent in Akron and he attended grade school and high school here, graduating in the class of 1918. He volunteered for army service during World War I. After this he attended Morningside college for a year and finished his higher education at the University of Iowa.

Mr. Kennedy married his high school sweetheart, Marguerite Brown, in Akron, June 7, 1924. To this union were born two children, Kathleen (Mrs. David Blanchard and James C. Jr.

After working in several banks, Mr. Kennedy took a job with the tax division of the state of Iowa and worked there until he was appointed postmaster at Akron in the early 1940s. He worked as postmaster and later as rural carrier until he retired in 1964. Since that time he and his wife spent their summers at their home at Okoboji and their winters in Arizona.

He loved music and especially enjoyed playing piano for friends and family. He was an avid hunter and fisherman. The pheasant hunting trips were usually outings, and both he and his wife enjoyed fishing with friends and family. His joy in fishing included teaching his six grandchildren the fundamentals of boating and fishing. His roots in the lake area go back to 1918 when his mother and step-father T. L. Burnight built their first cottage on the lake. He and his brother Bob spent many enjoyable times there.

In their retirement years, the Kennedys were blessed with good health for most of the time and felt doubly blessed in the love of their children and their families. They took great joy in all their children and grandchildren and extended their love to the marriage partners of all the family members. In 1974 the couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. At the time of Mrs. Kennedy's death in December 1979, they had been married 55 years.

Survivors include one son, James C. Jr., Washington, Ill., one daughter, Mrs. David (Kathleen) Blanchard, Howard, S.D.; six grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and a brother, T. Robert Burnight of Mound, Minn.

Akron Register Tribune
Thursday, April 17, 1980
Akron, Iowa