Robert A. Kennedy

Robert A. Kennedy

Washington

Robert Allen Kennedy, age 89, of Washington, Iowa, went home to Jesus peacefully on Sunday, November 24, 2024.

Celebration of Life services for Robert (Bob) Allen Kennedy will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 1, 2024, at the United Methodist Church, with Pastor Anthony DeVaughn officiating. Calling hours will begin at noon on Saturday, November 30, 2024, at the Jones & Eden Funeral Home, where the family will receive friends from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Interment with military honors will take place at Elm Grove Cemetery on Monday, December 2 at 10:00 a.m. Memorials have been established for the United Methodist Church. Online condolences for Bob’s family may be sent through the website at www.jonesfh.com.

Robert (Bob) Allen Kennedy, son of Charles and Mildred (Rice) Kennedy, was born on February 10, 1935, in Washington, Iowa. His family lived on a farm east of Washington. Bob attended a one-room schoolhouse with his siblings, just a quarter of a mile from home. As he would humorously say, “I walked uphill both ways.”

In 1953, Bob graduated from Washington High School and began attending Iowa State College. One day, he returned home to tell his mother that he had enlisted in the Army, where he served honorably during the Korean War. After the war, he resumed his studies at Iowa State, where he met Margot Anderson of Cedar Rapids and the two were united in marriage in 1958. They returned to Washington, where Bob joined the family insurance business, Kennedy Insurance, started by his grandfather in 1901. He owned and operated the business until his retirement in 2022. Bob and Margot had two children, Von Robert and Tonya Marie. They later divorced.

Throughout his life, Bob was known for his kind, generous heart and adventurous spirit. He was an active member of many community organizations and participated in numerous mission trips with the United Methodist Church. Two particularly memorable trips were with his brother, Dick, through Rotary, delivering much-needed medical supplies to Guatemala.

A dedicated community leader, Bob was a faithful member of the American Legion Post 29, Rotary, Masonic Lodge #26, Kaaba Shrine, and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. He was also instrumental in establishing The All-Veterans Memorial in Washington and helped secure funding, with Governor Branstad, to preserve Iowa’s Civil War battle flags.

Bob is survived by his son, Von Kennedy, and his wife, Julie, of Marion, Iowa; his daughter, Tonya Kaiser, and her husband, Jeff, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; ten grandchildren; twelve great-grandchildren; his brother, Richard “Dick” Kennedy, of Des Moines, Iowa; his sister, Martha Hahn, of Washington, Iowa; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Shirley Jean Geil; his brother, John Kennedy; his sisters-in-law, Linda Kennedy and June Kennedy; and his brother-in-law, Gerald Hahn.