Stories about Joe
The story of Joe Kenney's life will continue with your help.
We would love to hear of times you spent with Joe, a story, or even
a quick memory. We won't share without your permission.
Please email me, or send them through our contact page.
From:
Joe's Mom
Arrows and Golf Balls in the Air
Joe, Mikey and Cal loved shooting arrows in the backyard. They would go outside and set up their target and shoot away. Only problem was, they often would shoot right by the target into the neighbors backyard. As you can imagine, the neighbors were not thrilled with arrows flying over their fence. One day, Mr. Lucas marched through the backyard with a small collection of arrows insisting the boys not aim in his direction in the future. OK, fine. Years later, they started hitting golf balls….Again, despite our large backyard, one, two, ten ended up on the other side of the fence. This time, Mr. Lucas sent his son a Sudbury police officer in full uniform, official car parked out front, to the front door. A little overkill, maybe?…So they made their apologies and simply changed the direction they hit! Or did they???
Joe's stories will continue here, with your help!
From:
Joe's Mom
Joe Runs Away
When Joe was little he was famous for running away. Not intentionally leaving home because he didn’t like it, but just curious as to what was around the corner. (Hence the picture of Joe on a leash that many of you may have seen). He often would simply walk out the back door. One of his favorite places to go was across the street to the Byrne’s house. You see, they had a mini ride on jeep. As I would run around the house looking for Joe, I would look out the front window and see him driving down the street. It got to a point, that the kindly neighbors, who always left their garage door open, removed the battery for safety reasons – you know, so Joe didn’t try and drive all the way to Colorado or something! When their son got older, they eventually gave the jeep to Joe. He was in heaven!
From:
Joe's Mom
The Wedding and the Watch
In September 2019 our whole family was invited to attend a family friend’s wedding in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a busy time of year. Alli was moving, Mikey and Cal back to school. The only one who could attend of course, was Joe. “Never been to a wedding before. I’m in!” Of course. No surprise there. A few weeks before this all happened, Chris received a new watch as a gift for being sworn in as the Mass Bar President. He no longer wore his beloved Tag watch. Well, Joe and I were out shopping for a few new things for the wedding and rehearsal dinner. He mentioned, “I can’t believe Dad hasn’t given me his old Tag yet.” I was very surprised at this because Joe was a man who needed and wanted very little. I was frankly, surprised he even noticed. I went home that night and mentioned it to Chris. He was also surprised. But the seed had been planted. I assumed he would give it to him for Christmas or something. Well after our shopping spree, where Joe found his favorite new shirt/jacket that went from being $100 to $700 and completely took on a life of its own…that’s another story, he prepared for the wedding. He rented a tux, packed a bag and the three of us were off! The afternoon we arrived. To my surprise, Chris pulled out the Tag watch and gave it to Joe. He was beaming and so appreciative. We walked into town and had it sized. He wore it and his tux proudly for the wedding. It was such a gift that Chris didn’t wait and saw how much it meant to Joe to wear his watch.
From:
Joe's Mom
The Byrnes
Joe was diagnosed with diabetes at 8 years old and shortly after with celiac disease. Every year, our neighbors and friends, the Byrnes would give Joe $50 for Halloween because Joe couldn’t have that much candy. Throughout Joe’s life for every holiday, and I mean EVERY holiday, Laureen would make Joe gluten free cookies, brownies or cakes and walk across the street to deliver they personally. I mean, who does that? Joe always said that he would always remember Mrs. Byrne’s kindness and hoped to someday make sure she knew how much it meant to him.
From:
Alex Atwater
Junior and Senior year with Joe was unmatched. By now, I noticed Joe was able to gracefully balance his life or work and play. Although much more focused on school, these upperclassmen years together were filled with indelible ski trips, scholar formals, days lounging, and even an unforgettable senior year spring break to Costa Rica.
Joe was the life of the party throughout the whole trip. I remember on our last day in Costa Rica, we had rented out a catamaran sailboat - and I vividly recall a moment with the sun starting to set. Joe setting on the bow of the boat with an outrageous sunburn and even more outrageous grin on his face; and the stern of the boat ever-so-slightly began to rise up because of all the weight piling onto the bow of the boat, all because everyone trying to inch closer to Joe to share some laughs!
From:
Joe's Mom
It was a sunny morning at the beach. Joe was pretty young. We had just returned from church. The kids all bolted upstairs quickly to change into their bathing suits. We were having our coffee in the kitchen. There was complete mayhem going on in the house. This was typical as there were always many cousins, friends and family coming in and out. We didn't really notice that Joe was missing. Next thing you know we hearing screaming from the front of the house. Somehow when Joe was changing into his bathing suit, the old heavily painted door got stuck. Joe couldn't get out of the room. Well, he was a little claustrophobic. He decided it was a good idea to go out the widow, onto the porch roof and jump. Not a good idea. We found him flat on his back on the lawn. We had to rush him to the hospital. It all turned out fine. He was ok. I think it is likely he never shut that door again.
From: Joe's Friend Elliot Levy - A gift on Christmas Eve 2023
Hi Patty, I’m reaching out to you today because I never have. Joe visited me again in a dream last night. It was all too fleeting of course. He was my best friend in school. I didn’t really know how to deal with folks passing on so well back then. My mom passed away on August 6 2017, which was her birthday. It was a lot to handle at the time. It’s really great to see your family looking good! I know it’s hard, and it never won’t be. But we manage. You have a beautiful family I still have the small black office chair that Joe gave me when we moved out of the Chateau on 18th street. It’s truly a terrible chair I’ve moved 9 times since then and every time I move I looked at it and say… man I gotta let go of that. But I can’t. So I still have it, and I play guitar on it. I brought the chair to Burning Man this year so Joe could sit with us out there and join the party. It’s kind of funny because of how bad the chair is haha. Everything I’ve seen come out about the YJK is true. Up for anything, anywhere, anytime. What a guy. And even without the chair, I’ll still have this scar on my hip from a night we went hiking in the middle of the night during a blizzard in Chautauqua not the smartest move but let’s just say… I learned and grew a lot with Joe and his attitude. I miss him. I know you’re always thinking about him, especially during the holidays! So I wanted to let you know that I’m with you, and I’m sending positive energy. Sending much love and wishing a happy holiday to you and yours Your efforts in the world and joes memory continue to make a great impact.
He continued to add: In my own spirituality, I think Joe delivered the message thru me as a way to communicate with you all. I woke up with tears in my eyes......