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Barbara K. Kennedy, 77, a beloved mother, sister, wife, grandmother, and friend passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, February 29th, 2024. Barbara was born in Danbury Connecticut, a loving daughter of Virginia “Beanie” & William “Pop” Kellogg. In Bethel she grew up making every person she knew her friend, riding horses, and playing some fierce games on the softball field. In 7th grade, she met her sweetheart Paul Kennedy, and after their junior year, the pair became inseparable. Following their wedding and Paul’s enlistment in the Air Force, they moved to Nebraska where they started their family with the birth of their first child Timmy. Life later took them back to Danbury, where they eventually settled and welcomed their second child, Wendi. Barbara’s determination and care for others led her to pursue a degree at Mattatuck Community College, where she double majored in early childhood and special needs education. After starting her own small-scale in-home child-care service, she evolved the concept to develop “Fun Steps”. In 25 years of operation, Barbara, her staff, and her family impacted the lives of hundreds of children and families, most of whom she kept in touch with until her passing. Her love for teaching and enriching the lives of youth continued after she moved to Indian Land, SC. She volunteered at local elementary schools and even taught Sunday school at her church. In 2018, Barbara and Paul moved to their favorite place, the beach, where they have lived, loved, soaked in the salt air, and made many a friend in the past seven years. Barbara’s family and friends would describe her as creative, secretly competitive, ambitious, witty, faithful, and ultimately very compassionate. Some of her favorite things included spoiling her grandchildren, playing pickleball and a variety of card games with her neighbors, chatting on the phone for hours, and sharing multiple goodbye hugs. Barbara always lit up the room with her beautiful energy and hilarious “mema-isms” like pronouncing roller-coaster ‘rolley-coaster’ or calling Beaula “boo-la”. She enjoyed traveling and loved to take Caribbean cruises. Her favorite trip was visiting Rome where she met the Pope (of course she did) describing it as an “elevating” experience much like “walking on clouds”. In addition to her parents, Barbara was predeceased by her son Timothy Kennedy. Survivors include her husband, Paul Kennedy; daughter and son-in-law, Wendi and Mark Denise; daughter-in-law Bridget Kennedy; sister and brother-in-law, Dawn and Kevin Krizan; four nephews and nieces, Ashley, Kevin Jr., Chris, and Michael; four grandchildren; Sean, Matthew, Eve and Daniel; one grandnephew and three grandnieces, Jayce, Alisa, Averie, and Brynn; and all the beloved friends she made along the way. Barbara, Bobbie, Mom, Auntie, Yama, Mema, Pooh Bear was truly a guardian angel during her time on Earth. She touched the lives of so many people on her journey, all of whom we invite to celebrate her life at 4:00 PM Thursday, March 7, 2024, at Precious Blood of Christ Catholic Church. The family will receive friends from 2:00-3:00 PM prior to the service at Goldfinch Funeral Home, Beach Chapel.

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Barbara Kellogg Kennedy

April 6, 1947 - February 29, 2024