JOHN ALEXANDER KENNEDY

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JOHN ALEXANDER KENNEDY Peacefully, on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at Oakview Place, John Alexander Kennedy (Alec) passed away at the age of 101. He was born with his twin brother George on the family farm at Arden, MB on August 27, 1913 to Jack and Annie Kennedy. Alec was predeceased by his parents and all six of his siblings Elgin, Clark, Ford, George, Muriel "Dickey" and Kathleen. He is survived by his wife of 74 years, Mary (Snart) from Glenboro, his daughter Bevy (Ray) MacLennan, granddaughter Colleen "Dolly" (Hamid) Zahedi, grandson Scott (Sandra) MacLennan, his great-granddaughters Holly and Missy Zahedi as well as numerous nieces and nephews from Manitoba to British Columbia. After his mother's premature death on Christmas 1921, Alec was thrust into adult responsibilities at an early age and he became a self motivated, honest, charitable man who laboured on various farms at harvest time as a lad. Then during the depression he embarked on a nomadic life riding the rails and working in bush camps in Thunder Bay, and on tugboats on the Lake of the Woods. After he and Mary were married on September 28, 1940 at Mary's Glenboro farm, they flew by float plane into Red Lake, ON where he mined gold for two years until his lungs became infected with rock dust. This forced them to move to Winnipeg where he met an old friend who told him the C.P.R. was hiring. Alec applied, passed the rules test, and made his first trip running as a brakeman on a speed freight to Brandon the next day. Finally, after all of that, Alec and Mary had a baby girl (Bevy) in 1944 and Alec worked on the C.P.R. until he retired as a conductor after 35 years on the job. Nicknames were popular on the railroad and Alec "Boomer" Kennedy created most of them and he loved to tell the family funny stories about the railroad and the characters he worked with. His occupation earned him the nickname "Choo-Choo Grampa" to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was physically active all of his life and until he reached 98 he shopped for groceries and rode his bicycle every day (in the underground parking area in the winter) and everyone who lived in the Park Terrace apartment block or worked at the Silver Heights Foodfare knew him and liked him. It took an accidental fall last November which broke his hip to rob him of his mobility. Of course, being Irish, he had a great sense of humour and when he reached 100 he liked to tell people that the only thing that got better with age was a barrel of Irish Whiskey. He was not the easiest patient to keep in bed but he always said "bless you lady" or "thank you lady", no matter what age his nurses were. The family wishes to extend a sincere thank you to the nurses and staff at Seven Oaks Hospital and at Oakview Place for their wonderful care and kindness. Alec and Mary shared a room at Oakview for the past six months and our special thanks go to the social workers for making that happen so quickly. A private family service will take place at a later date. For those who wish to sign the online Guest Book please visit our website. Chapel Lawn www.chapellawn.ca 885-9715

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 18, 2014