Michael Kennedy

Michael was born in Waltham, Massachusetts December 8, 1955. Michael’s father, Major William Clement Kennedy, Jr., served in the United States Army, and his mother, Mary Shannon (Holman) Kennedy, raised Michael and his five siblings, Mary Katherine, William Clement, III, Anne Louise, Elizabeth Teresa, and Ruth Ellen. When Michael was three years old, his family moved to Okinawa, Japan. After four years abroad, the family returned to the United States and ultimately settled in El Paso, Texas, where Michael graduated from Parkland High School in 1973.

Following graduation, Michael began his career in construction. At the age of nineteen, he suffered a near-fatal work accident that required months of recovery in an El Paso area hospital. With bravery, determination, and the love of his devoted family, Michael made a full recovery.

For the next twenty-five years, Michael traveled the country working mostly as an instrument fitter. Job opportunities brought him to places as diverse as Oklahoma, Vermont, Wyoming, North Carolina, and Texas. He spent several years working at Brown University in Rhode Island.

Determined to finish his career as an educator, at the age of thirty-nine Michael moved to Arkansas and enrolled in the University of Central Arkansas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Education in 1999. Michael then commenced a twenty-year career as a teacher at Conway High School, in Conway, Arkansas. As his teaching career progressed, Michael continued his studies, earning a master’s degree Educational Leadership from Arkansas State University in 2011. He retired from teaching in 2020.

While living and working in Conway, Michael met the love of his life, Susan Kay Dick Dolan. They were married in December 2013. After Michael’s retirement, the couple moved to Fort Smith in 2021 to be closer to Susan’s family.

Michael had a boundless sense of curiosity and adventure, and throughout his life pursued an extensive array of hobbies and interests that included, among other things, dirt bike riding, rock climbing, skiing, disc golf, origami, carpentry, electronics, computer gaming, and, most recently, fly fishing. Michael was a gifted musician who played guitar and the Irish penny whistle. He sang with a soft, sweet voice. Anyone who knew Michael will never forget his kindness, intelligence, or incomparable sense of humor.

Michael is survived by his wife, Susan and her two daughters, Brooke White (husband Matthew), and Chelsea King (husband Kaleb) of Fort Smith; his sisters, Mary Katherine (Sharpe) of Houston, Texas, Elizabeth Teresa (Smith) of El Paso, Texas, and Ruth Ellen (Fernandez) of Tucson, Arizona; and eleven nieces and nephews.

Funeral Service will be 10:00 AM on Friday, April 8, 2022, at Immaculate Conception Church at 22 North 13th Street in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Private family burial will at Bellfonte Cemetery.

Flowers may be sent to Edwards Funeral Home, 201 North 12th Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas (phone (479) 782-8203).

Online condolences may be sent to: www.edwardsfuneralhome.com