Kennetha Newell Bramley

Kennetha Newell Bramley, lovingly known to friends as ‘Kennie’, passed away on January 26, 2024. She was born in Vincennes, IN as no hospital was available in Lawrenceville, IL, where she lived for the first two years of her life. Her family moved to Garrett Park, MD, where she attended Walter Johnson High School, and then Marjorie Webster Junior College, and worked in fashion. On March 6, 1970, she met her future husband and the love of her life, Tim, and married on November 26, 1970.

Kennie always wanted to be a mom, wanting 100 kids, settling for 8. She was a housewife and volunteered for Fairfax County Public Schools, especially working with parents who had children with special needs, helping them navigate the school system. She is remembered by many as the hostess at Saratoga Elementary. After her husband died in a plane crash in 1994, Kennie began advocating for the rights of families of plane crash victims and was integral in the passing of the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996.

Kennie will be remembered for being a comfort to those in need. She would sit at her children’s bedsides through any sicknesses. When a family member lost his wife in a plane crash, Kennie talked to him for years as he grieved. When her mother became ill, Kennie became her caretaker.

She saw all her kid’s friends as her own. After a local child was murdered and the family was unsure of how they would afford the funeral, Kennie privately let the family know that she would pay for everything. She helped pay for sports uniforms, instruments, to help fund trips, or whatever was needed. The Bramley house also became the home and refuge of many friends who felt they couldn’t go home or needed a place to go. They will remember having a “Mrs. Bramley Talk” where she gave parental advice.

Kennie loved Diet Coke, dining out, and The Beatles. She was a firm believer in sharing whatever she had, and more. Everyone had a seat at Kennie’s kitchen table. She was very generous and was happy to share what she had and more with her family, friends, her kids’ friends, or strangers.

Kennie split her time between northern Virginia and The Villages, FL, where she was an active member of the Red Hat Society. She will be missed by her eight children, Alicia (Brian), Allan (Khafilat), Aimee, Andrew, Tim, Chloe, Mary, and Shawn, her two beloved grandsons - TJ and Washington, her cousin, John (Adele), and many other extended family members and friends. She is preceded in death by her husband, Tim, and her mother, Chloe.

Kennie will be interred with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery in July.