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03/14/13 - NNHS Newsletter - Furman Kenney
Robert Furman Kenney Tupelo (MS) High School Class of @ 1937 |
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Dear
Friends and Schoolmates,
There is
more sad news this Thursday morning. Beloved minister
Rev. Dr. R.
Furman Kenney,
father of
Bobby Kenney ('66) of VA
and Martha Lynn Kenney of KY, passed away at
the Chesapeake in Newport News on Monday, March
11, 2013 at the age of
92.
His wife,
Evelyn Moore
Kenney,
preceded him in death on September 05, 2010.
Dr. Kenney served for many years as the pastor of Parkview Baptist Church, and later as CEO of the Chesapeake, formerly known as the Newport News Baptist Retirement Community.
http://www.nnhs65.com/09-06-10-NNHS-Evelyn-Moore-Kenney.html
From the Daily Press - 03/14/13:
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NEWPORT NEWS - The Rev. Dr.
Robert Furman Kenney, Sr., died on the 11th of March, 2013, at the
Chesapeake.
He was born on August 6, 1920, in Pontotoc County, MS, the son of Charles Len Kenney and Pansy King Kenney. He grew up in Chesterville, a suburb of Tupelo, MS. He graduated from the Tupelo High School with "special distinction". He attended the Clarke Memorial College and received his B.A. from Mississippi College in Clinton, MS., graduating Magna Cum Laude. He taught school for one year. The following year he joined the U.S. Navy and was later transferred to the Ninth Marine Regiment of the Third Marine Division serving as a Hospital Corpsman. He saw duty during WWII in California, New Zealand, Guadalcanal and made the assault landings on the islands of Bougainville and Guam. |
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Dr. Kenney | ||||
In 1944, he married
his college sweetheart, the former Evelyn Edwyna Moore of Meridian, MS. They
both loved to travel and spent many happy days and weeks seeing the world.
Together, they visited the Holy Land, Europe, Alaska and during their final
overseas trip, they visited Australia and then New Zealand where they spent time
in the places he had spent time as a young Marine. Following the war, he resumed his education and earned a Master of Divinity Degree and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY. During his seminary days, he had student pastorates. Upon graduation, he became the pastor of the Smithfield Baptist Church and later of the Parkview Baptist Church. His last post of duty was as the CEO of "The Chesapeake" (then known as the Newport News Baptist Retirement Community) a post which he served for nineteen years. During his retirement years, he served as an interim pastor in several local churches and supplied the pulpit in many other churches. He taught in and was Director of the Boyce Bible School, a subsidiary of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, for several years and also taught in the University of Richmond off-campus school. He also was a guest lecturer in religion classes at Walsingham Academy in Williamsburg. Furman was a member of the Newport News Lions Club and served a term as its president. He received the Lions Club Melvin Jones Fellow Award for his service and contributions to the work of the Lions Club. He was active in other civic groups and committees focusing on inter-denominational and inter-racial accord. He held various positions in the local and state areas of denominational activities and was elected to serve as the President of the Virginia Baptist Pastor's Association. He was a member and served as President for two terms of the Southern Baptist Ministries with the Aging, an organization which has expanded from coast to coast. Locally, he was a pivotal figure in the formation of the Virginia Association of Not-for-Profit Homes for the Aging of which he remains a member emeritus. He was the author of sermons appearing in the Zondervan's "Pastors Annual" and in "More Southern Baptist Preaching". He wrote a Doctoral Thesis titled: "Jeremiah's Distinctive Contribution to the Hebrew Psalmody". He compiled a two-volume pictorial history of the first thirty years of THE CHESAPEAKE. He is the author of nine books including: "People Like M'Self", "Lady of Steel", "Murder in the Manse", "Chesterville, the Village at the End of the Road", "King David: My Life as I Remember It", "An Unlikely Saint", "Detective Donovan Tackles a Three Pronged Mystery", and "Pop's Cabin" which he completed in January of this year. Recently when he reviewed his life, he said he broke it into parts: He was a student, he served his country as a Marine in Combat, he was a minister, he was the CEO of The Chesapeake, he was a teacher, he was a world traveler and he was an author. It has been said that he was a man who transformed himself when his circumstances changed with the passage of time. He made the best out of his opportunities to serve and lived his life to the fullest until his final hours. He will be missed by many but will always be a part of the lives of those who knew and loved him. He was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn Moore Kenney, his parents Mr. and Mrs. C. Len Kenney and his sister, Mrs. Sara Lynn Millar. He is survived by his son, COL (Ret) Robert F. Kenney, Jr. and his wife, Mary Jane, of Williamsburg, VA, and by his daughter, Martha L. Kenney of Louisville, KY, and her partner, Ann Deibert of Louisville, KY, by two grandsons, Patrick Kenney of Alexandria, VA, Alex Kenney of Williamsburg, VA, and by a niece, Sarah H. Davis and her husband Dan of Huntsville, AL. The family will receive friends, Friday March 15th at Peninsula Funeral Home between 6:30 and 8:00. Funeral Services will be held, Saturday at North Riverside Baptist Church at 1:30 with interment to follow at Peninsula Memorial Park. In lieu of
flowers, the family requests donations be made to North Riverside Baptist
Church, 311 Selden Road, Newport News, VA 23606 or to the Benevolence Fund of
The Chesapeake, 955 Harpersville Road, Newport News, VA 23601.. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at
dailypress.com/guestbooks.
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Our deepest
condolences are extended to Dr. Kenney's family, friends, and former
parishioners at this difficult
time.
Y'all take good care of each other! TYPHOONS FOREVER! We'll Always Have Buckroe!
Love to all, Carol
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NNHS CLASS OF '65 WEB SITE:
http://www.nnhs65.com
PERSONAL WEB SITE:
http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/cluckmeat
==============================================
Carol Buckley
Harty
7020 Lure Court
Fayetteville, NC 28311-9309
915-780-3048
It Is Well with My Soul
Words by Horatio G. Spafford, 1873
Music by Philip P. Bliss, 1876
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious tho't:
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
"Even so" it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
"It Is Well with My Soul" midi (sequenced by Brian M. Ames) and lyrics courtesy of http://users.stargate.net/~bmames/ht0026_.htm - 11/14/08
Greg Olsen Paintings courtesy of
http://gregolsengallery.com – 01/27/05
Blackwork Flowers Divider Line clip art courtesy of
http://www.bravenet.com
- 08/12/04
Animated Navy and USMC Flags clip art courtesy of http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/KevsGifsGalore/Patriotic.html - 06/18/03
Lions International Logo courtesy of http://www.firmston.com/pwlions/fundraising.htm - 02/06/08
Back to NNHS Newsletters - 2013