Ethel Maria Bertolucci Kenny, 90 passed from this world to join her beloved husband Patrick in the kingdom of heaven on Monday, March 2, 2020. Services for Ethel will be held at Ascension Catholic Church in Melbourne, FL on Friday, March 6, 2020. Visitation will begin at 1:30 pm in the chapel with funeral mass following at 2:30. Entombment will be at Florida Memorial Gardens directly following mass.
Ethel was a devoted wife of 54 years, as well as a beloved mother to 6 children, grandmother to 13, great grandmother to 18 and great-great grandmother to 1. Her life was filled with love and laughter, and she lived by the motto “never a dull moment”.
Born September 17, 1929 in Jersey City, NJ, she met and married Patrick Kenny there in 1949. Ethel began her career as a bookkeeper in New York City and worked in that field throughout the years in both New Jersey and Florida. Her meticulous nature was well suited to it as it balanced the craziness of a loud and vibrant household filled with six children who openly adored their mother and everything she did.
Ethel touched the lives of many, many people and was loved by all who knew her. Her friends will remember her laughter at their many card, bingo and domino games. Ethel knew the value of friendship and maintained relationships with those she loved for decades, never forgetting a birthday, a well wish or a term of endearment. She fulfilled her life-long dream of traveling as she and Patrick spent more than a decade traversing the country from coast to coast. She lived a life of service, not simply to her family, but also to her community and her church. Ethel’s devotion to the Catholic church was evident in the way she led her life. She participated in church organizations in both NJ and FL, from being a member of the Columbiettes, to cooking, working fairs and eventually a greeter at mass. One of her great loves later in her life was working as a volunteer at the Ascension Thrift Store where she continued to serve her community and church while forging loving relationships with those she worked with.
It was truly impossible to not love Ethel as her smile, laughter and kind nature was contagious. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her, especially her family as they lose not simply their matriarch, but the center of their universe.
Ethel is survived by her six children: David (Pam) Kenny, Eileen Kenny, Patrick Kenny, Sharon (Stanley) Whidden, Marybeth (Shane) Hatcher and Colleen (Brian) Noble. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and many great grandchildren. Ethel is preceded in death by her husband, Patrick, her parents Ethel and Eugene and her sister Evelyn.
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