Mr. Gerald Patrick Kenney's Obituary
Gerald P. Kenney was born on January 29th, 1938 in East St. Louis, Illinois to Tim and Virginia Kenney. He was the 2nd born of 5 children to the young couple. Jerry (as he was known to everyone) grew up big, strong and handsome and before graduating high school he and his older brother together won a State Championship Football title (something he loved to talk with his grandsons about). In 1956 he started college at Virginia Polytechnical Institute (later to become Virginia Tech). In 1957 he married Barbara Ann Huffstetler and began a small family. In 1960 he started working in Langley, VA for what soon became known as NASA. In 1961, he and his wife along with their 2 oldest children transferred to the Houston office of NASA. While working for the space agency and completing his education at the University of Houston, he and Barbara added 3 more children to the fold, bought a house in the Sagemont subdivision of Houston, and settled down for a permanent life in Houston. He had a 45+ year career in the space program, working on the Apollo program, Space Shuttle program, and even the European Space Station program. Along the way he added on more child to the mix to even up the score at 6 (3 girls and 3 boys). He was an active member in his Sagemont community, serving as the first ever president of the Sagemont Pool, assisting with coaching duties in little league baseball and football, officiating football games, and attending as many of the various events his kids and grandkids were in as he possibly could. Jerry loved life and loved to fill it with laughter while spending time with family and many friends. A devout Catholic and original member of the St. Lukes the Evangelist Catholic Church, he instilled a strong sense of faith and love for God in his children and his many grandchildren. Only his love for his wife and family came close to his love for Christ, with his love for golf coming in as a close 3rd. On April 20th, 2017 after a short battle with cancer, Jerry passed away while Barbara held him in her arms. He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, 5 of his children, 13 grand children, 6 great grand children, his 2 sisters and his 2 brothers. The family takes comfort in knowing he is greeted in heaven by his parents and his oldest son, Chris.
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