Obituary for Edward Carey Kenney Jr.
A tribute to a complicated human from his children
It is no secret that we had a complicated relationship with our father in the last few years. Maybe it was a secret to you reader, or to those who weren’t as close with the family, but for most, it was common knowledge.
That isn’t usually how an obituary starts, but we hate it when the ugly parts of relationships and life are glossed over as soon as someone dies. What made our relationship particularly complicated and hard is that we remember when it wasn’t so ugly.
For most of our life, he was a wonderful father. He was a confidante, support, and someone we could rely on. He loved to talk and would often go off on tangents. His intelligence was hard to miss after talking to him for even 10 minutes. He never seemed quite like the friendly type but would somehow make friends with random neighbors and people in stores. He cared deeply about his kids, even if he couldn’t remember things like birthdays, the names of our childhood friends, or even our names sometimes. He loved to laugh and be silly which included allowing us to hang Christmas decorations off him or walking around the house with his underwear on his head. He was sarcastic and stubborn as hell, traits carried on by each of us. He loved telling jokes that weren’t all that funny. When we wouldn’t laugh, his response was always “dammit I’m funny”. He was a talented woodworker, and you could always find him building different things around the house, ranging from furniture to boxes.
He was also in an enormous amount of pain. After his parents died, he never quite recovered. He tried. We watched and did our best to cheer him on. But it was painful, not only for him, but for us. After his wife was diagnosed with cancer, which we all knew would kill her, it was too hard for him to keep trying. He could no longer cope with his emotional pain, and it eventually became physical pain.
He is no longer in pain. He passed on December 21, 2021. He will be remembered, for all his flaws, intelligence, and humor by his siblings, Kate, Mary, Bob and Patrick. As with us, his relationships with his siblings weren’t always easy, but they took care of him to the end. The three of us, Nick, Allie, and Rae, and our kids, his grandkids, will miss him.
Even through the complicated, messy stuff, he was still our father. We will always love him and hold tight to the beautiful memories we have and try to forgive for the not so beautiful ones.
No funeral will be held at this time. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
It is no secret that we had a complicated relationship with our father in the last few years. Maybe it was a secret to you reader, or to those who weren’t as close with the family, but for most, it was common knowledge.
That isn’t usually how an obituary starts, but we hate it when the ugly parts of relationships and life are glossed over as soon as someone dies. What made our relationship particularly complicated and hard is that we remember when it wasn’t so ugly.
For most of our life, he was a wonderful father. He was a confidante, support, and someone we could rely on. He loved to talk and would often go off on tangents. His intelligence was hard to miss after talking to him for even 10 minutes. He never seemed quite like the friendly type but would somehow make friends with random neighbors and people in stores. He cared deeply about his kids, even if he couldn’t remember things like birthdays, the names of our childhood friends, or even our names sometimes. He loved to laugh and be silly which included allowing us to hang Christmas decorations off him or walking around the house with his underwear on his head. He was sarcastic and stubborn as hell, traits carried on by each of us. He loved telling jokes that weren’t all that funny. When we wouldn’t laugh, his response was always “dammit I’m funny”. He was a talented woodworker, and you could always find him building different things around the house, ranging from furniture to boxes.
He was also in an enormous amount of pain. After his parents died, he never quite recovered. He tried. We watched and did our best to cheer him on. But it was painful, not only for him, but for us. After his wife was diagnosed with cancer, which we all knew would kill her, it was too hard for him to keep trying. He could no longer cope with his emotional pain, and it eventually became physical pain.
He is no longer in pain. He passed on December 21, 2021. He will be remembered, for all his flaws, intelligence, and humor by his siblings, Kate, Mary, Bob and Patrick. As with us, his relationships with his siblings weren’t always easy, but they took care of him to the end. The three of us, Nick, Allie, and Rae, and our kids, his grandkids, will miss him.
Even through the complicated, messy stuff, he was still our father. We will always love him and hold tight to the beautiful memories we have and try to forgive for the not so beautiful ones.
No funeral will be held at this time. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.