Mary Elizabeth Kenney

MARY E. KENNEY On August 9, 2025, at 6:50 a.m., Mary Elizabeth Kenney passed peacefully from this life, embarking on her next great journey. At 92 years old, our mother lived an extraordinary life — one rooted in strength, faith, and resilience. A native Washingtonian, she never strayed far from where she was born in 1933, right in the heart of the District of Columbia. She witnessed nearly a century of change in our nation’s capital, from the depths of the Great Depression through the dawn of a new millennium. Remarkably, Mary traced her heritage back to July 1635 when Thomas Simpson arrived in the New World from Scotland. Her direct Simpson ancestors participated and served in every conflict including the formation of this great country and all skirmishes and wars following. This Simpson line was formally registered into The Order of the First Families of Maryland and the National Society of Descendants of American Farmers validating their longstanding tenure from the infancy of this glorious nation. Imagine knowing all of this and growing up in the shadow of the nation’s capital. As a young girl growing up where the National Mall now stretches, she saw entire neighborhoods displaced to make way for the Washington, D.C. we know today. The Smithsonian Castle buildings were her playground, and the Lincoln Memorial — now an enduring symbol of our nation — had been standing just a decade when she was born. Her loving parents, Dr. Frank Marsden and Marguerite lovingly raised 8 children. Over the course of her life, she lived through and bore witness to: • The hardships of the Great Depression. • The global upheaval of World War II. • The post-war boom, the Cold War, and the Space Race. • The Civil Rights Movement and the social transformations of the 1960s. • The Vietnam War and the turbulent protests of the era. • The moon landing in 1969, a moment that redefined possibility. • The Watergate era and a nation’s crisis of trust. • The end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. • The rise of globalization, the internet, and instant communication. • The tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the years of change that followed. • The COVID-19 pandemic, which reshaped daily life across the world. Through all of it, she adapted, persevered, and remained engaged with the world around her. But my mother’s story is not just about the history she witnessed — it is about the life she built. She was a strong and fiercely independent woman, deeply rooted in her Catholic faith, determined to educate her children. Raising four kids alone, she managed to create a home filled with both discipline and love. Two of us became college graduates, and two became entrepreneurial business owners — all of us carrying with us the work ethic she instilled. She made sure we contributed to the household from a young age. We worked at the rectory, delivered newspapers, served Mass, and joined every extracurricular activity available to us. On August 22, 1998, she reunited with and married Michael Carroll Kenney Jr., and together they shared 27 wonderful years of companionship and love. They were a blended family, sharing 11 children, 25 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren. Whether she was known as Mary or affectionately called Aunt Kelly, she will be missed by all of us.

Tributes

Mary Elizabeth Kenney

March 20, 1933 - August 9, 2025