I have so many great memories of my dad! I remember one time when I was very small maybe 3 or 4 years old I woke up 1 morning in he was not there and he did not tell me good bye so I went all around the house looking for him and I opened up the front door and for some reason in my little mind I thought that that lizard at the front door with my dad so I started calling come on lizard lizard come on lizard lizard.  He gave me my love for the water he taught me how to swim and I then was on a swim team for many years to come.  He was amazing when it came to cars.   He was always willing to go car shopping  and always very helpful when I came to maintaining the car!!    Due to his military career we have a lot of wonderful memories from all the different places we lived. I remember when we lived in Willow Grove and the blue angels would be there we would be part of the volunteer group helping out it was always so much fun. I remember the trips to Tennessee and the music we had to listen to that old old country boy did I ever get tired of that.  He expected a lot from us in school or sports or the job and he pushed us hard to do our best but he was there to catch us when we faltered to give us some encouragement.  I remember the worry on his face when I broke my arm and the absolute fear on his face when I got in a car accident.  I love my dad but the past 10+ years have been very difficult for all of us who knew dad.  Alzheimer's took everything from the dad I knew: his memories,  his dignity, his independence, his voice.   There are so many things I will miss that I got to share with my Dad! I will truly miss my dad!  I will truly miss seeing him sit in his lazy boy chair, I will truly miss giving him a kiss goodbye every morning before I left for work , and I will truly miss going into his room at night to give him a kiss goodnight but I am so thrilled he is whole again and he is free from that horrible disease!  I love you Dad now and always!  Till we meet again!!!

James H, (Buddy) Kennedy was my first cousin and I loved him dearly. He was a great mentor and friend, always taking me places when I was younger. In the summers I would go to the farm spend time helping haul hay, combine oats and wheat and any other chores Buddy was involved in .  The last time we visited him was in 2016 and we know he knew us as a great smile was on his face and we took some great pictures that we will always cherish. As Liz helped him into the van we saw a tear on his face and that was a great sign again that he knew us. I will always cherish the great memories we made together.

My mom is Marie H Smith and Margie was her best friend many years ago when she just met Jim and she had Linda that we called Diane. Thru the years I had such good memories when we would visit when you lived in Cordova Park. Elizabeth was a baby. Sharon and David were so cute little blondes. My mom and Margie kept in contact until she passed. She loved Margie so much and Jim was such a nice man. My mom is now in a nursing home called Specialty Center and Rehabilitation on Pine Forest Rd in Pensacola. She is active in the building and I take her out to her doctors. She turns 84 in a few weeks. I have tried to call Linda but the number I have doesn’t work. My cell number is 850-485-7178. Y’all had wonderful parents and must have many memories. Love, Evelyn Sherman

  Uncle Jim Kennedy to me was a kindly unassuming man, who deeply loved University of Tennessee football, professional golf and his family. Together with my Aunt Marge they formed a highly functional team in a highly dysfunctional extended family. Somehow through the luck, or bad luck of the gene pool, Aunt Marge became the heir apparent matriarch of the French family and Uncle Jim was her mostly silent partner. Displaying the patience of Job (https://www.gotquestions.org/patience-of-Job.html), Uncle Jim supported her and somehow tolerated the hijinks (putting it mildly) of the extended family. Never a cross word have I ever heard him utter, a gentleman in every sense of the word.
  For my contribution to the dysfunctionality of the extended family, I was the regular Sunday Visitor when they were stationed at Willow Grove Naval Air Station and I was a student at West Chester State College, about an hour away. I would appear just in time for dinner and I must have been a pain but I think Aunt Marge knew I needed some family time and Uncle Jim would just roll with it . . . We would talk about his time in the Navy and I would talk about the Army ROTC Program and activities that I was involved in at West Chester. He always seemed interested in what I had to say and was engaging . . .
  I would be neglectful if I didn’t recognize his service as a Naval aviator. He served his nation with honor and distinction.  I thank you for your service and can only hope there are appropriate honors rendered at the graveside. We are all just that much better having known you.   Fair winds and following seas, until we meet again.  


Visitation

Funeral Service

Linda Larson

Sharon (Tom) Halley

Elizabeth Kennedy

He will also be greatly missed by his four grandchildren, Amanda Larson, Shane(Beth) Halley, Keegan (Lauryn) Halley, Tara Halley and three great-grand children Riley, Kendal and Brooklyn Larson.

OBITUARY

Capt. James H. Kennedy

May 25, 1934 – January 3, 2019

Bayview Fisher-Pou Chapel & Bayview Memorial Park

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