Dr. William Fennessy 1920-1977

FENNESSY, DOBBIN, STOCKTON, FIELDS, GETTING, SULLIVAN, SEGRETA, KREGER, FLANAGAN, DORSEY, ARGYOS

Posted By: Kathy Kurth Holtry (email)
Date: 12/19/2009 at 13:12:40

Manchester paper-21 Dec. 1977
Dr. Fennessy Services Held
Funeral services for Dr. William Fennessy, D.V.M., 57, Dyersville, who died Tuesday, Dec 13, at Mercy Medical Center, Dubuque, were held Saturday, Dec. 17, at Basilica of St. Francis Xavier, Dyersville.
Military services at the graveside were conducted by the Dyersville American Legion Post No. 137.
Dr. Fennessy was born May 7, 1920, at Duncombe, the son of Thomas and Rose (Dobbin) Fennessy, and graduated from Sacred Heart high school, Fort Dodge. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1939 to 1945 and was honorably discharged as a 1st lieutenant in 1945. He graduated from Iowa State university, Ames, in 1951, having earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and shortly thereafter, established his practice of veterinary medicine in Dyersville. He practiced in the Dyersville area for over 20 years. In addition, he taught biology at Xavier high school in Dyersville for a ten year period and more recently taught at Area I. On Aug. 18, 1944, he was married to Imogene Stockton at the Roswell Army Air Force Base, Roswell, N.M. She preceded him in 1968.
Dr. Fennessy was one of the people instrumental in establishing the M.M. Hoffman Public Library in Dyersville and was a member of the Board of Directors of the library for 16 years, having served as president of the board for seven years. He was also a member of the Dubuque County A.V.M.A., the Dyersville Golf and Country Club, the Dyersville American Legion Post No. 137, the Dyersville Knights of Columbus, Council #1734 and the State Historical Society.
Surviving Dr. Fennessy are one son, Thomas, Iowa City; five daughters, Mrs. Craig (Alison) Fields, Washington D.C., Mrs. Roy (Mary Ellen) Getting, Elk Point, South Dakota, Robin Fennessy, West Point Academy, West Point, New York, Patricia Fennessy, a student at M.I.T., Allston, Mass., and Anne Fennessy a student at Iowa State university, Ames; one grandson, Andrew Getting; seven sisters, Mrs. Margaret Sullivan, Washington D.C., Mary Fennessy, Mrs. Rose Segreta, and Mrs. Rita Kreger, all of Fort Dodge, Mrs. Alice Flanagan, Kettering, Ohio, Mrs. Joan Dorsey, Villa Park, Calif., and Mrs. Patricia Argyos, Cottage Grove, Minn.
He was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, and one brother.