September 25, 1928 - January 11, 2025
Kathleen Grace Kennedy, age 96, of Stratford, passed away peacefully at her residence surrounded by family on Saturday, January 11, 2025. Born in East York, daughter of the late Archibald Totten and Coral Edith (Calder) Wallace. Kathleen was predeceased by her loving husband Dr. George Edley Kennedy, December 23, 1995. Loving mother of Susan Kennedy (Terry McKenna) and Paul (Sharon) Kennedy. Proud grandmother of Brendan McKenna (Emma), Liam McKenna (Mattie), Siobhan McKenna, Calder McKenna, Aaron Yong (Shannon) and great grandmother of Alden, Teddy and Cece. Kathleen will be fondly remembered by her niece Lynn Holland (Russell) and her very good friend of seven decades Geof Gage (Marie).
Kathleen knew from a very early age that she wanted to be a teacher. She taught Sunday School for many years before attending teachers’ college in Toronto to get her Primary Specialist certification. She began her career at GECO, the school established at the former munitions plant converted to housing for returning veterans and concluded it at Withrow Public School, in what was referred to as “inner city” Toronto, as Directress of six kindergarten classes (of 30+ children each) with help from her highly valued and dedicated teaching team. She later worked alongside George at his chiropractic practice in Toronto’s East End. During this time, Kathleen and George lived together in East York, Grand Valley, and Toronto before retiring to Stratford in 1994.
Kathleen loved gardening, a passion she shared with her mother Coral, whose double-long lot in East York was packed with beautiful flowers, shrubs and carefully tended roses. Kathleen’s gardens were a source of joy and pride, often setting the scene for family dinners at Grandma’s, where her grandchildren fondly remember being surrounded by her beautiful work.
A true animal lover, Kathleen cared for a wide variety of “critters” over the years, including many barn cats that became beloved house cats, dogs, birds, a rabbit, and one horse. Kathleen even ran an unanticipated raccoon nursery. After her daughter Susan rescued a tiny raccoon kit (eyes not yet open) from a Toronto exterminator, Kathleen adopted “Baby” and hand-reared her before releasing her back into the wild at “the chalet”, the home she and George built near Grand Valley. Baby would return each summer with babies of her own. Soon other mother raccoons followed suit, bringing their kits each summer to be watched over by Kathleen.
Kathleen was also an avid reader with a voracious appetite for books, flying through a truly monumental quantity. She often shared one of her favourite sayings with her grandchildren “you cain’t never tell” from “The Story of the Chinese Farmer”, a parable she fully embraced as a guiding life principal which conveys the idea that the twists and turns in life, whether they seem good or bad initially, may not truly be judged until time reveals their full consequences.
Besides her parents and her husband, Kathleen was predeceased by her only sibling Jean Holland, her cousin Guy Wallace and her best friend and colleague Marie Gage (Geof). In keeping with Kathleen’s wishes cremation has taken place and a private family interment will take place in Avondale Cemetery.
As expressions of sympathy memorial donations may be made to Stratford Perth Human Society through the W. G. Young Funeral Home, 430 Huron St, Stratford, ON www.wgyoungfuneralhome.com
