Tom Kennedy, Longtime History Professor, Dies at 79

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Tom Kennedy

Thomas "Tom" C. Kennedy, 79, of Fayetteville, professor emeritus of the Department of History, who served as a faculty member from 1967 until his retirement in 2003, died Jan. 26, 2017.

Todd Shields, dean of J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, saluted professor Kennedy's many years at the University of Arkansas, saying, "Tom was an asset to his department, college, and the university as a whole and was a beloved exemplar of the type of professor whose persona in the classroom will never be forgotten by his students nor his colleagues."

Calvin White Jr., chair of the Department of History, remembered Tom, who served as the departmental chair from 1986 to 1992, as one of the kindest men he ever met. "When I became chair, Tom mentored me and warned me about the ins, the outs, and the pitfalls that come with the position. He and his wisdom will be greatly missed."

Kennedy always considered himself a lucky man — lucky in lineage, lucky in love, lucky in labor, and lucky in the loyalty of a lot of good friends. He was born Sept. 25, 1937, in Dayton, Ohio, the second of three sons of Harry Lawrence and Adlyn Cummins Kennedy. From the beginning, Kennedy was well-educated, in so far as he was willing to cooperate, in good Catholic institutions, where he learned to love history and literature but considered everything connected with mathematics a considerable weakness. Perhaps more important, he was taught at home and in school to adhere to strict ethical standards (that he sometimes failed to fully embrace) and, more successfully, to treat all human beings with dignity and respect.

After graduating from the University of Dayton, he served for 25 months, mostly in Germany, as a fresh-faced officer in the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment at the height of the Cold War. There he learned about many things, wonderful and dreadful, he had not encountered in his previously sheltered life. During military service he met a host of fine and talented friends, learned the wonders of a foreign culture and people, suffered the throes of an ultimately unrequited love affair and almost became a serious young man.

Kennedys luck remained intact when, wandering about Europe after his release from the Army, he had a pre-arranged meeting in Stuttgart with a hometown girl, Mary Lynn Goecke, and began the fun and adventure that started as a lark and ended as a life-long attachment. While he was teaching literature and learning grammar, finally, at a fortuitously acquired position at a marvelous high school in West Carrollton, Ohio, Tom and Mary were married and began their family while Tom earned his advanced degrees. Maura Ann, was born in Arizona where Tom received a master's degree, Padraic and Eamon were born in Columbia, South Carolina, where he earned a Ph.D., and Caitlin was born in Fayetteville, where Kennedy attained employment as an assistant professor of history.

Teaching nearly 40 years in the History Department, Kennedy met a vast array of sometimes brilliant, often fascinating people, many of whom became close and loving friends. He loved teaching, more perhaps than some of his students loved learning, but in that cast of thousands, there were some he never forgot and a few who gained high places in the world of men and women. Kennedy also began to publish scholarly articles and eventually books, many of which examined Quakers and Quakerism in Great Britain and the United States. His scholarly pursuits led him to become an active participant and president of the Western Conference on British Studies, to become president of the Friends Historical Society in London, be appointed a T. Wister Brown Fellow at Haverford College, and lastly a fellowship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.

While research, teaching, travel, and family demanded much of his attention, Kennedy always found time for the sporting life: born a Cincinnati Red, educated as a Dayton Flyer, and ripened as an Arkansas Razorback, his loyalties were never in question. Kennedy also relished the physical challenges of sport and led the intramural teams of the Department of History to an all-sport trophy at the University of Arkansas.

Kennedy loved to sing and dance and write verse, which often accompanied invitations to the famous annual Party, allegedly celebrating the feast of blessed St. Patrick, he and Mary hosted for several decades and hoped that guests savored as much as they enjoyed. Colleague, Richard Sonn said, "My warm memories of Tom devolve to all the St. Patrick's parties he gave, where he and his grandkids would dance, the beer flowed, and the Mudlarks played jigs and reels." It was all in the tradition, as his sainted ancestors proclaimed: "Life is short and you're a long time dead."

Kennedy is survived by his wife and children, his brother Harry and sister-in-law Sangnete, of Fresno, California; his son-in-law Tony Anaya of Cincinnati, Ohio; daughter-in-law Alison Greer of Baltimore, Maryland; son-in-law Ryan Guyton of Fayetteville; and eight beloved grandchildren, Adlyn, Thomas and Matteo of Cincinnati, Jennie and Jared, of Windsor, Colorado, Harry and Iain, of Baltimore, and Anna, of Fayetteville.

There will be a memorial service held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11. If desired, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in the form of contributions to any progressive cause. Kennedy contributed to them all.