John was born September 2, 1946, and went home to our heavenly father on February 16, 2024, where he is reunited with his wife, Tribia Jean Brinkley, his mother, Biner Kennedy, father, Dealous Rush, and sisters Ann and Nettie Mae.
He graduated from Haaren High School in New York and entered the military right after, serving proudly for 27 years in the United States Air Force and bravely fighting in both the Vietnam and Desert Storm wars.
John was an athletic young man, and while serving in the military, he realized he had a boxing talent, leading him to become a boxer for the Air Force, garnering Golden Glove champ status and an alternate position on the 1968 Mexico USA Olympic team.
What John did best, though, was family. He was a family man. Whether he was attending football games, singing competitions, or picking up his daughter from the school dances, it was what he lived for. The Air Force afforded him the blessing to travel around the world with his family, allowing them to live amongst different cultures in places like Japan, Goose Bay Labrador, Philippines, South Carolina, Delaware, California, and New Jersey and finally being forced to retire from the military when it meant that his family, in its entirety, could not come with him to his next assignment. The job was no longer worthwhile if it meant not having his family with him.
John was a strict but funny father. He aimed to provide for his family and raise upstanding children, keeping them off the streets and out of jail. He succeeded. He also was known for his satirical quotes that continues to perplex his kids. “If you’re ever by the river….drop on in.” “Wherever you go…there you are.” and “If I had a nose full of nickels, I could sneeze a fortune.”
In 1991, he was honorably discharged from service and retired to Chesapeake, VA, where he worked as a corrections officer at St. Brides Correctional Facility.
Though gone from us in the physical earthly form, John’s spirit remains and is survived by his four kids, Cedrick Parker (Debra Parker), John W. Kennedy Jr (Kimberly Vandermeulen), Delious T. Kennedy, Meredith Kennedy-West (Jeff D. West), his grandchildren Delious Tyree Kennedy, Amarra J. Kennedy, Anthony Parker, sisters Catherine Scott, and Doris Jean Kilcrease.
