A tribute to Jack Kennedy 1924-2002

AIF Golf Director and Irish-American businessman John 'Jack' Kennedy recently died aged 78. He had been active with The Fund for the past fifteen years and had raised over $1 million from golf classics in Boston and Washington.

Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1924, Jack was one of three children of John Kennedy and his wife Theresa (nee Flynn). His father's origins were in Waterford while his mother's family hailed from Dingle, Co Kerry.

He graduated from the University of Nebraska, and from Tufts University, Massachusetts, in 1949. He served with US Army Air Corps Intelligence in the Pacific during the Second World War and saw action again in the Korean War. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel on his retirement.

In the course of a successful business career, Jack was national sales manager of New England Instruments, marketing vice-president for Guild-Allied Control and was founding president of John J. Kennedy Associates, a recruitment agency.

He became a supporter of The American Ireland Fund early on. Jack Kennedy was an enthusiastic golfer and a member of Charles River Golf Club, Boston, where he was a past seniors' winner. In 1988, arising from a chance encounter in Falmouth, Cape Cod, with two Irish golfers, Frank Fitzpatrick and Bob Fitzsimons, he married his love of golf with his love and support of all things Irish and became involved in fundraising.

He was appointed Golf Director of The AIF and organized golf tournaments, initially in Ocean Edge Golf and Country Club, Cape Cod, transferring after three years to his own club, Charles River, which made it easier for Bostonian supporters to participate. He later organized tournaments in both Chicago and Washington.

The Annual AIF Golf Classics in association with an annual tournament at Clontarf Golf Club in Dublin have been able to provide significant financial support to several children's charities in Ireland. The funds raised have assisted with:

• The construction of specially adapted housing for visually impaired people in the grounds of the former St Mary's Asylum for the Female Blind on the Merrion Road, Dublin.
  
• The purchase of two apartments for the Bone Marrow for Leukemia Trust near St James's Hospital, Dublin, for the use of the parents and families of children undergoing treatment.
  
• St Malachy's primary school in Edenmore, Raheny, a designated disadvantaged area, has received computers for pupils use and the provision of a crèche made it possible for adults to attend special classes.

Jack Kennedy was an amiable man with simple tastes. He liked seafood and enjoyed a good cigar. While he was a great talker, he was not a man for breaking into song or for late-night revelry. An honorary member of Clontarf Golf Club, he regularly visited Ireland and over the years played at most of the country's great golf courses. He always looked forward to meeting his relatives, the Ashe family, in Dingle.

Jack Kennedy is survived by his wife, Edith (nee Richards); five sons, John, William, Douglas, Stephen and Gregory; two daughters, Deborah and Nancy; and sister, Dorothy.

At his death, many friends and associates were heard from:

Kingsley Aikins
"There was only one thing that Jack enjoyed more that his beloved golf and that was going to Ireland to see the impact of the funds he and his colleagues painstakingly raised in Boston and Washington. It brought him much joy to think that he could combine golf and doing great good and connecting with like-minded people in Ireland."

John Creedon
Retired President & CEO, MetLife
"Jack was a wonderful, much loved Irishman, and we were sorry to hear that he passed away. He was a mainstay for The AIF and will be sorely missed."

Kieran McLoughlin
Director Ireland, The Ireland Funds
"He did outstanding work for Ireland with a sense of both flair and fun."

Paul McNealy
Friend & Golf Committee Member
"As a dear and close friend of Jack's for more than 25 years and as an AIF golf committee member since the beginning (despite being 'fired' every year!), I can clearly attest to Jack's heart of gold. He would always say, 'remember - this is for the kids'. I was fortunate to have visited with him the apartment units at St. James and thus have seen firsthand the results of his efforts. The kids, the AIF, the world and I will sorely miss him. Sláinte, good buddy."

This article first appeared in Connections Winter 2003 issue