Ileen Kennedy
Toronto pro-life activist Ileen Kennedy, wife of long-time Interim columnist Frank Kennedy, passed away peacefully of respiratory problems at the age of 87 at the Cardinal Ambrozic Houses of Providence in Toronto on July 7.
From the mid-1980s until about five years ago, the Kennedys were fixtures at any event Campaign Life Coalition held in the Toronto area said CLC national president Jim Hughes. “They were everywhere,” Hughes told The Interim, saying they went not only to the CLC provincial and national strategy meetings, conferences, pickets at the Morgentaler abortuary, and the National March for Life, but also meetings of Toronto Right to Life and REAL Women.
Kennedy was a programmer with the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, and began volunteering with Campaign Life in the early 1980s. She helped create the data base CLC used for nearly two decades to maintain the list of their supporters. “She was a marvel,” Hughes said, “great at everything she did.”
Hughes said Kennedy was a committed Catholic and pro-lifer, noting she said “this is God’s battle, first and last, and don’t forget it.” Despite the commitment to activism, Hughes joked Kennedy might be best known for her decadent, double-layer chocolate cake, a staple at the CLC summer barbeque and their office Christmas parties.
Kennedy was also active with the Catholic Women’s League at her parish Blessed Trinity.
She is survived by her husband Frank, daughter Tara Kimberley, and grandchildren Caleb, Anne, and Joshua. She also leaves brothers Robert, John, Peter, and Paul, and sisters Isobel and Ann. She is predeceased by a son Rory, and three siblings (Archibald, James, and Margaret).
