Carole A. Kennedy

Carole A. Kennedy, 87, died Friday, June 16, 2023 at home with her family. Carole was born and raised in Newburyport, Massachusetts - a direct descendent of the first settlers of Newbury, Massachusetts and Captain Alexander Graves and his wife Susanna, who were important maritime figures. As a teenager, she was proud to attend Republican functions with her aunt, Dede Hamilton and mother, Annie Sayball - the first woman ever elected to city council in Newburyport. Early on Carole developed a fondness for the ocean where, along the beach, she learned to take her first steps. Some of her best times were spent with her family and friends at Plum Island, the location of one of her favorite jobs, working as an assistant cook at Camp Sea Haven, a camp for children with polio. She graduated from Newburyport High School with the class of 1953 and went on to study at Essex Agricultural School where she was a cheerleader and played on the basketball team.

Over the years her former husband’s job took them many places - each with its own significance. As such, Carole moved to Bayside, New York and Salina, Kansas before returning to several cities in Massachusetts where she raised her growing family. Carole was very active in churches in every place she lived. She helped establish the first UCC church in Salina, KS. Additionally, she was a youth group leader, Sunday School leader, and served on several church boards including as a deaconess. Most of her professional life was spent in banking and she worked in Melrose and Amesbury, MA from where she retired. After retirement she returned full circle, moving back home to where she started in Newburyport, MA where she became a proud, grateful, 38 year member of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Carole had many interests. She enjoyed music and sang in many church choirs and high school and community choruses. Over the years she was a girl scout, a rainbow girl, and a former Associate Matron of Eastern Star. Carole liked to travel, to attend musical theater, and to play a good game of hand and foot whether with her sisters or her church family. She loved to go to the casino, particularly Foxwoods, with her two sisters. Carole was a poet, an avid reader, and loved doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles. She was an enthusiastic fan of the Boston Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins, and always up for a good lobster or fried clams.

Carole was a proud mother of five talented children, who inherited her musical genes, her affection for the theater, her love of books and writing and interest in sports. She supported her children and grandchildren’s interests by attending their events including sports, plays, concerts, and graduations and remembers happy times shared in the community cultivated at the Deering Conference Center. Carole is a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Cheraw. She is much loved and will be very missed.

A memorial service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 29, 2023 at Kiser Funeral Home.  The family will receive friends from 2:00 until 3:00 p.m. just prior to the service at the funeral home.

Surviving are her sons, Jim (Meghan) Kennedy of Cheraw, SC, Daniel J. (Amy Curl) Kennedy of Madison, WI, daughters, Patricia (Stephen) Greene of Monroe, NC, Rev. Dr. Nancy J. (Joseph Tatem) Kennedy of Newcastle, ME, Judith F. Kennedy of Providence, RI, grandchildren, Nicholas, Michael, Heather, Peter, and John

She was preceded in death by her parents Howard A Sayball and Annie G. Perkins Sayball, sisters, Nancy Hooper and Susan James, also, her former husband, Richard Kennedy.

In lieu of flowers: MUSC Health Hematology and Oncology at Hollings Cancer Center, 86 Jonathan Lucas St., 2^nd Floor/3^rd Floor, Charleston, SC 29425 or Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215-5450

Visit kiserfuneralhome.com to send an e-condolence to the family.