Carl Patrick Kennedy

Born 13 March 1941 in Bad Axe, Michigan, to Frank and Anastasia Kennedy. Carl was next to the youngest of nine children. He passed into God’s kind and loving arms on 18 December 2024 at home with his wife by his side. Or as pilots would say, CP Kennedy flew west. 

He loved learning new things and had earned his amateur radio (HAM) license before he was 16. Carl always loved airplanes. As a boy he would watch military and commercial aircraft flying overhead and dream of one day being able to fly aircraft like those. Later he proudly served in the US Army Aviation in Vietnam. He flew Huey helicopters, Bs and Ds, and compiled nearly 1,000 hrs of combat assault time during that year in Vietnam. His unit supported the 101st Airborne, the Korean Marines and the Vietnamese Rangers. After leaving his service in the Army, Carl was hired by United Airlines where he served for over 30 years, ending his career as a Captain on the Boeing 777. 

Carl was a dear man; kind, strong, sometimes stubborn, always ready to help, always steady. He loved his family, flying, fishing, hunting, learning and just being outdoors. He loved and was so proud of his daughter and his son. He watched as they moved ahead through their lives, celebrating their successes and wishing to help when times were difficult for them. They were always very close to his heart. 

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Patricia (Walling); daughter Kathleen Kennedy, of Bristol, England; and son James (Jamie) Kennedy, of Lansing, N.Y. Also surviving is his younger brother Richard Allen “Mike” (Pam) Kennedy, of Abilene, Texas; and numerous nieces and nephews. 

He was predeceased by his parents, Frank and Anastasia Kennedy; brothers Clarence, James, Thomas, and John “Frank”; and sisters Joan, Geraldine “Gerry”, and Colleen. 

There will be a funeral mass at 10:30 am on January 13, 2025 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Woodstock, IL. Interment will be at Crystal Lake Memorial Park Cemetery in Crystal Lake, IL. The family would ask that you remember the good times and say a prayer of happiness and gratitude.