Margaret H. Kennedy

Margaret Kennedy passed away Thursday evening, March 31st due to a stroke she suffered a few days earlier.

Margaret (Kring) Kennedy was born June 10th, 1933, and came from Hornepayne, a little railroad town in northern Ontario, the only daughter among 4 children.  The railroad was the only way in or out of town in those days.  She received a nursing certificate in Thunder Bay (formerly “Port Arthur”), Ontario on the north shore of Lake Superior in the late 1950’s.  While working in Sault Saint Marie, Ontario, she met and married an American serviceman named Herb Kennedy (from Cleveland, Ohio).  They moved to Lansing, Michigan where he finished his degree at Michigan State University and worked as the youth director at the downtown YMCA, and she started her career as a registered nurse at Sparrow Hospital.  Herb tragically died of cancer in 1972 and left Margaret with 3 small girls to raise.   Margaret’s parents both died within a week of each other when her eldest daughter (Karen) was just an infant.  She spent over 30 years as a registered nurse at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing and had a successful career, retiring in 1997.  She enjoyed retirement until struggling with dementia the last 2 years.

Margaret loved to travel, see movies, grow flowers and raspberries (and many other things), have at least one kitty in the house, and be with people. She had a lot of natural creative interests: photography, painting, music, sewing and crocheting.

Margaret was preceded in death by her three older brothers, Charlie, David, and Wesley, and her husband Herb.  She leaves behind three daughters, Karen Kennedy (Joe Daunt) of Portland, Oregon; Lori Kennedy (Lansing, MI); Dawn Kennedy and two granddaughters, Savannaugh and Shailynn Kennedy (Lansing, MI). She also leaves behind her sister-in-law Ruby Kring (Hamilton, Ontario) and many nieces and nephews in Ontario, Canada and Kalamazoo, MI.

Margaret had many wonderful friends from the Groesbeck neighborhood and Lansing area, as well as friends from Asbury Methodist Church and former nursing colleagues, and the ladies from the Red Hat Society.  The family sincerely thanks all of these friends and family members for their love and support of our mom and our family.  We also thank Burcham Hills Retirement Center, the terrific medical staff at Sparrow Hospital and the Hospice nurses at St. Lawrence/Sparrow campus.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 8, 2016, at the Estes-Leadley Greater Lansing Chapel. Memorial contributions can be made to the Lansing City Rescue Mission or the Capital Area Humane Society.