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Margaret Dennison Kenney Obituary

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Margaret Dennison Kenney

South Bend, IN

June 18, 1929 - June 26, 2022

Margaret Dennison Kenney Obituary

Margaret Campbell Dennison Kenney died on Sunday, June 26, 2022.  Her death was peaceful, her life was full. In fact, it was bursting. Bursting with a welcoming and radiant spirit that defined her. Many, many, many people called her friend, and each one felt special when they were with her.

Perpetually curious and forever learning, she studied everything from computer programming to Hebrew, guitar to Plato, meditation, psycholinguistics, Spanish, poetry writing, the history of the English language - the list goes on. Her pursuits were not always lofty, or even successful. The awkward homemade objects she made in her late 60’s crafting class were the source of many family jokes, mostly by her, lasting long after the lifespan of the class, and the objects.

Margaret was a quiet activist, always leading with love as she sought to change the status quo.  She claimed that her prodigious community service was because “almost anything is better than cleaning house.” However, her firm belief that every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect is woven into the fabric of work that continues, work that she helped bring into being.

Margaret was born on June 18, 1929, to Mildred and Belden Dennison. She remarked that it was not clear that her birth had anything to do with the October stock market crash of that year. Her arrival was not widely noticed in Dayton, Ohio, where she was born, nor in Oxford, Ohio, where her family then lived, except by her two siblings, John, 4 1/2 and Ellen, 17 months, who were unimpressed. Those siblings and their spouses became her steadfast friends in adulthood.  Spending time with them and her nieces and nephews wherever and whenever they could were some of her happiest days.

She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Miami University in 1951, however her greatest college achievement was the lifelong friendships that began there.  Her first job after college was at Wright Patterson Air Force Base where she considered the male:female proportion excellent. The electronic computer having not been yet developed, human beings were employed to do rather tedious, routine calculations for the engineering staff: her job title was “Computer.”

She earned her Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Michigan in 1952, but her budding career in academia was waylaid by a handsome, fast-talking physicist from the Bronx, Vincent Paul Kenney.  They were married in 1954 at St. Mary’s Church in Oxford, Ohio. It was a supremely happy union filled with friends, family and travel until Paul died in 2015.

Paul’s career took them to Brookhaven National Laboratories in New York, the University of Kentucky in Lexington and finally to the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN.  They traveled extensively for his work and for their pleasure, including two residencies in Munich Germany, the first with three small children in 1961-62 (traveling both ways by ocean liner), the second with four slightly older children in 1972.  While he pursued and analyzed high energy particles in the physics lab (protons, mesons, and quarks), she pursued and analyzed high energy creatures at home (Ann, Charlie, John, and Mary). Somehow amid the laundry, Little League, and the chipmunks invading the basement, Margaret found the energy to pursue a rich life serving her community.

Perhaps the service most dear to Margaret was her involvement with St. Margaret’s House, a day center for women and children who struggle with poverty. Thirty-three years ago, she was asked to help get the project started. She said yes, and she continued to say yes till her passing. She said yes to help raise funds, to become the first treasurer, to serve on the Board of Directors, to be a weekly cook, to serve as an informal counselor to the guests and as a mentor and friend to the executive director.

Margaret was dedicated to education and deeply committed to racial justice, so when the desegregation of South Bend schools began, she was named to the Community Task Force that shaped the integration program.  This led to her employment in community relations for the South Bend Community School Corporation amidst trying times, work that was emblematic of her conviction and her courage.

For years Margaret worked to sustain dialogue and common cause across diverse populations. She was an active member of many service groups, often serving as a board member or chair as well as doing the hard work “on the ground.” She served on the board of the Center for the Homeless and when the homeless center was first housed in Maranatha Temple, Margaret got out the cots, made coffee and monitored the sleeping rooms. She was also a long and active member of the League of Women Voters and worked on various political campaigns through the years.  For over fifty years Margaret worked with the American Association of University Women to achieve educational equity and opportunity for women. As a member of the local Muslim-Christian-Jewish Dialogue group she worked to foster conversations and relationships among members of different religious traditions.

She did this all this while driving grubby little boys to athletic contests, serving as the principal audience of numerous dramatic presentations in her living room, only occasionally serving semi-raw meals to her children, and for 14 straight years sat on hard bleacher seats in various gymnasia to attend school concerts, every one of which featured beginning strings playing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”  Her dearest wish was that her children become members of the South Bend Youth Symphony. Regretfully, all four children demurred.

Margaret loved music.  She sang in the choir at the Cathedral of St. James and was an avid member of a group of recorder musicians who played together for over 50 years.  She loved the symphony, in South Bend and in Chicago.  She traveled to Chicago for the opera, and later in life enjoyed live broadcasts of the Met at the DeBartolo Center at Notre Dame.  Her children remember Sunday afternoons filled with classical music wafting from the stereo while their father napped, and they lit fires in the boys’ bedroom. 

Undoubtedly there are more ways in which she shared her time, more organizations she helped shape to serve people in need, but we were having too much fun with her to keep track of it all.

Margaret is survived by her four children, Ann Kenney Miller (Steve Haas) of Napa, CA,  Charles D. Kenney (Caridad Marchand) of Norman, OK, John B. Kenney (Judy) of Santa Clara, CA; and Mary Elizabeth Kenney (Mike Moran) of Evanston, IL;  13 grandchildren: Sarah (Stephen) Schrage and Joseph Miller; Pablo (Ellen Tighe), María (Andrew Lobban), Tomás (Meredith Daufenbach), and Andrés Kenney (Sara Cressey); Michael (Mallory), Alex (Rosemary), Tim (Rylee) Kenney and Kathryn (Owen) Weissberg; James, Charlie, and Luca Moran; and 14 great-grandchildren, with two more on the way.

In Lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to St. Margaret's House 117 N. Lafayette Blvd South Bend, IN 46601

Requiem Eucharist for Margaret will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, July 2, 2022, at The Cathedral of St. James 117 N. Lafayette Blvd. South Bend, In. Friends may visit with family the evening prior, Friday July 1 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. James.

Palmer Funeral Homes – Welsheimer North Chapel is assisting the family with arrangements.  Online condolences may be left for the family at www.palmerfuneralhomes.com

To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the Official Obituary of Margaret Dennison Kenney hosted by Palmer Funeral Homes.

Events

Event information can be found on the Official Obituary of Margaret Dennison Kenney.