Tommie Kennedy

Tommie Jean Haygood Kennedy was born on September 11, 1921, in Arkadelphia , the youngest child of Lillian Strong Haygood and James Raymond Haygood. Her father was a college math professor and football coach whose most famous recruit to college football was Bear Bryant. Tommie Jean and her brother and sister moved as their father changed coaching positions - Arkadelphia, Florida, Tuscaloosa and finally, Memphis. Her mother was a spirited, resourceful, courageous lady of her time.
Tommie Jean attended Snowden Elementary, Central High School (where she was a leader in the student govemment) and Southwestern at Memphis, earning a BA in math and Bible. As an undergraduate, Tommie Jean earned part of her tuition by working for Dr. Baker as a botany research assistant. She was selected to Mortar Board, for academic excellence, and was a lifeguard and camp counselor in the summers. Forty years later, she earned an MA in computer science at Florida Institute of Technology
For the first 31 years of adult life, Jean was an accomplished Army wife, popular among the other officers' wives and known for her enjoyment of their talent shows and parties, her leadership of the Officers' Wives Clubs, her work at the thrift shops on the various installations where her husband served: Ft Eustis,
Boeblingen and Stuttgart, Germany, among many others. She truly "bloomed where she was planted". Jean took Ikebani in Japan. She spoke terrible but lively German, Hebrew and Yiddish. These were useful in Germany and Israel where she shopped in the bazaars in the Old City of Jerusalem as well as in the modern markets of Tel Aviv. She played masters level duplicate bridge and taught the game to many friends. Jean loved her time with the Skipwith Farms Garden Club. And she served for years as a Brownie, Girl Scout and Cub Scout leader. A much sought after creator of costumes for Halloween and school plays, Jean sewed with speed and flair.
Jean was high energy. She would see something to do and just dive in. An example is the auto repair class she took in the early 1970's. The instructor asked for a volunteer to bring in their car. Jean offered her Datsun. At a point when someone could not pun off the oil filter, Jean said, "Oh, let me", and she grabbed a wrench and banged away. One on-looker said to Nancy, "What is your mother- a lion-tamer?!"
Moving fast was part of the high energy Jean. She would work as fast as possible. When the car was icy on a school day, she would boil a pot of water, run outside and throw the boiling water all over the windshield and then hustle everyone off to school.
Cooking classes and recipes were an on-going activity for Jean. Family memories of her cooking are vivid, and rarely have any thing to do with the food itself. With Jean. it was all about kitchen fires, burning tea towels tucked under her arm, reflections of flames on the kitchen door, whole loaves of burned toast flung out the open kitchen window. One friend suggested that if Jean were to write a cookbook, it would be called "Cooking With the Smoke Alarm".
In the two decades following the "launch" of her four children, Jean worked as a secretary, then competed for technical work at NASA at Kennedy Space Center where she was a computer systems analyst, administered the computers used for LANDSAT data analysis, budgeted for computers and, finally, planned payloads for the space shuttle. She was honored as the 1985 Woman of the Year by Federally Employed Women. Ultimately she progressed from secretary to GS-13 at a time when women were just beginning to emerge as leaders in the workplace.
Jean may be best known for the many people whose lives she touched through her personal relationships. She was extremely loyal to her friends and made a point of staying in touch. Annually Jean would organize a lunch in Memphis with about ten of her friends who lived there; it was a source of joy to all to be able to count on that event. Beyond the personal friendships. Jean considered her connection to others in need important. It was anathema to her that anyone could see a need of others and not respond in some way. She acted on this sense of connection through institutions such as Amnesty International, World Jewish Congress, ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center and the Democratic Party. She was deeply committed to social justice and to the beliefs of the Methodist Church, serving as a student, teacher and volunteer at Wellspring United Methodist Church. As a volunteer at Colonial National Historical Park at Jamestown, she loved making our history accessible to visitors.
Jean's brother, James R. Haygood, Jr, pre-deceased her. She is survived by her sister, Nancy Ganier, her children, Elizabeth Kennedy, Nancy Kennedy, Cary Kennedy and Claudia Kennedy and her grandchildren,
Greg, Naomi, Andy IV, Micah and Ivy. She said her greatest legacy was her children. Her children know her significance extended beyond being a great mother.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your charity or to Wellspring United Methodist Church, Williamsburg, Virginia.
Graveside services will be 11 A.M. Friday, December 2,2005, in the Rose Hill Cemetery under the direction of Ruggles-Wilcox Funeral Home.