Raymond J Kenny

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Former Staten Islander Raymond J. Kenny, 91, a retired deputy inspector for the New York City Police Department and former junior high school teacher, died yesterday in North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, L.I.

Born and raised in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, he attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He moved to Eltingville in 1956 and lived there until 2002, when he moved to Little Neck, L.I.

Mr. Kenny served stateside as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, from 1943 to 1945.

Mr. Kenny then joined the NYPD as a probationary patrolman and retired in 1979 as a deputy inspector. During his career, he was awarded two Excellent Police Duty medals and a commendation for bravery.

He was a member of the NYPD Emerald Society and the NYPD Honor Legion.

A man dedicated to learning, Mr. Kenny attended night classes at John Jay College in Manhattan, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice.

Following his retirement from the NYPD, he earned 12 education credits from CUNY College of Staten Island and taught junior high school in New Jersey for five years.

“He was somebody who believed in education first and foremost,” said his daughter, Cathy Kenny. “There was not always money for new cars, but there was always money for school.”

Mr. Kenny was an active member of the Knights of Columbus and the Watkins-Kellett American Legion Post. He was also a member of the Holy Name Society and a former parishioner of St. Clare’s R.C. Church, Great Kills.

His wife, the former Madeline McNally, died in 1989.

In addition to his daughter, Cathy, surviving are four sons, Robert, Sean, Raymond, and Neil; two more daughters, Madeline Cicero and Laura Barbarino; 14 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be Friday from the Casey-McCallum-Rice South Shore Funeral Home, Great Kills, with a mass at 11 a.m. in St. Clare’s Church. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.