Elizabeth Ann Kenealy

Elizabeth Ann (Walker) Kenealy Betty Kenealy, 88 years old, of Springfield Virginia, passed away on April 17, 2020 at home. Betty was our loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and sister. She lived her values of duty to her family and her Catholic faith. She lived a blessed and full life. We will miss her forever. The eldest of six children, Betty was born in Portland Oregon to Joseph Lail and Marie Bird-Walker on February 20, 1932. During the Great Depression, the family moved to Oahu, where Betty’s father, Lail, worked at Pearl Harbor and eventually served as Chief of the Federal Fire Department in Honolulu. When Betty was only nine years old, living just outside the naval base with her family, she witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Later in life, she often spoke movingly about that day and the war. She attended Sacred Hearts Academy High School in Kaimuki and graduated from the University of Hawaii. Betty was an accomplished musician. She played in a dance band while in college, taught countless students how to play the piano, and served as the church organist in many Catholic parishes over the years. On June 11, 1955, she married a young Naval officer, William E. (Bill) Kenealy, Jr. at the Submarine Memorial Chapel, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the young couple then moved to the next duty station - Quonset Point, Rhode Island. As a Navy wife, Betty dedicated herself to her family and guided the family through many moves across the country during those years, including one tour back in Pearl Harbor. She raised five children and supported other Navy families through her service to the Navy Relief Society. Betty was devoted, loving, and headstrong. When Bill was stationed in Saigon, Vietnam during the war, unable to endure separation from him for an entire year, Betty flew to Saigon for a visit midway through his tour. Betty also worked as a secretary at the Defense Logistics Agency in Virginia for several years, after the children were grown. Ever the volunteer, she was at the Inova Alexandria Hospital Volunteer Desk on September 11, 2001, to witness and support the care provided to 9/11 victims transported from the Pentagon. Betty was heavily involved in the Board of Lady Governors at Inova Alexandria Hospital and was a faithful member of Nativity Catholic Church. Betty is preceded in death by her parents and brothers: John, Michael, Timothy, and Patrick. In addition to her husband, Capt. William E. Kenealy, Jr. (USN, ret.), she is survived by her sister Mary Helen Hutton (Calvin) and Betty’s five children: William E. Kenealy III (Phil), Kathleen Kenealy (Mary), John Kenealy (Kelly), Kevin Kenealy (Rosanne) and Teresa Brown (Stanley), along with numerous nephews, nieces and others. Betty was most proud of her 11 grandchildren, from whom she took great joy: Kate and Mary’s Dante and Kaia; John and Kelly’s William, Gary (Carolyn), and Clifford (David); Kevin and Rosanne’s Alina, Brennan, Connor, Danika, and Erban; and Teresa’s Olivia; and one great granddaughter, Gary and Carolyn’s Amelia. Funeral services at Arlington Cemetery are to be determined and will be noted on the Demaine Funeral Home website. “In recognition of her service to the Navy and the Country, there is a plaque dedicated to her honor at the United States Navy Memorial Visitor Center.” The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.