Dozens lined the stress of Kelley, a small town in Story County, on Friday evening to send off the last member of a family who many say helped make the town what it is today. John Wayne Kennedy died on Saturday, May 6. The 86-year-old was the last of his siblings, who had lived in Kelley since birth. On Friday after 6 p.m., dozen of people came together at Bethany Lutheran Church in town. The church is where Kennedy was ordained decades ago. “He was just a good friend,” said Steve Kaltenheuser, one of Kennedy’s neighbors. On Friday, people joined there to see him off for his final ride through town in a hearse, provided by the Adams & Soderstrum Family of Funeral Homes team. The drive would take Kennedy’s body through the town he loved and the cemetery, where his siblings now rest. “I’m not sure what we’d been without them because they all contributed,” said Rob Finch, a friend of Kennedy. His siblings all played their own roles in town. One of his brothers worked at the elevator in town, while another worked at a welding shop. John Wayne Kennedy was a truck driver, who was very important to the community. “He got on hauling milk from Omaha and Des Moines; two loads a day,” said Marv Holland, Kennedy’s best friend. Following behind the hearse as it drove through Kelley was a fire truck filled with his grandchildren. Behind that, drove Kennedy’s children all together. “This is a special day — not just for John — but the whole family,” Finch said. Times are changing in small towns; it’s something several people said on Friday. People continue to come and go. However, it’s their memories of Kennedy that will always bring them back to Kelley. “That’s where his roots were. It’s where he was born,” Kaltenheuser said. “That’s where he wanted to be.”
Dozens lined the stress of Kelley, a small town in Story County, on Friday evening to send off the last member of a family who many say helped make the town what it is today.
John Wayne Kennedy died on Saturday, May 6. The 86-year-old was the last of his siblings, who had lived in Kelley since birth.
On Friday after 6 p.m., dozen of people came together at Bethany Lutheran Church in town. The church is where Kennedy was ordained decades ago.
“He was just a good friend,” said Steve Kaltenheuser, one of Kennedy’s neighbors.
On Friday, people joined there to see him off for his final ride through town in a hearse, provided by the Adams & Soderstrum Family of Funeral Homes team.
The drive would take Kennedy’s body through the town he loved and the cemetery, where his siblings now rest.
“I’m not sure what we’d been without them because they all contributed,” said Rob Finch, a friend of Kennedy.
His siblings all played their own roles in town. One of his brothers worked at the elevator in town, while another worked at a welding shop.
John Wayne Kennedy was a truck driver, who was very important to the community.
“He got on hauling milk from Omaha and Des Moines; two loads a day,” said Marv Holland, Kennedy’s best friend.
Following behind the hearse as it drove through Kelley was a fire truck filled with his grandchildren. Behind that, drove Kennedy’s children all together.
“This is a special day — not just for John — but the whole family,” Finch said.
Times are changing in small towns; it’s something several people said on Friday. People continue to come and go.
However, it’s their memories of Kennedy that will always bring them back to Kelley.
“That’s where his roots were. It’s where he was born,” Kaltenheuser said. “That’s where he wanted to be.”
Credit: Source link
