Arthur C. Kennedy Sr.

Arthur C. Kennedy Sr., 77, passed away on May 13, 2025, in Kansas City, Missouri. He was born on July 28, 1947, in Graysville, Alabama, to Arthur Edward Kennedy and Eardene Pritchett Kennedy. He grew up in Graysville, Alabama. He loved animals; in fact, he taught a pigeon to fly away, come back, and land on his arm. He was an accomplished pianist who played religious and classical music growing up. He graduated from Westfield High School in Fairfield, Alabama.

After high school, he attended Memphis Academy of Art in Memphis, Tennessee, where he received his BA in Art with an emphasis in Commercial Art. During college, he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the” Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike” in 1968. The strike and march were a significant part of the Civil Rights movement. He joined the Army in 1969 and served for four years. He began work for Hallmark Cards as an illustrator, where he worked for thirty-one years.

He was a loyal and committed member of Greater Faith Missionary Baptist Church, where he was a deacon, Sunday school teacher, chairman of the trustee board, and choir member. His hobbies included dancing, fishing, lawn work, and teaching art classes to students. He married Emma Dian Skipwith in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 25, 1972. They were happily married for fifty-three years!

He was preceded in death by Johnny Pritchett (grandfather), Versie Pritchett-Hughes (grandmother), Arthur Edward Kennedy (father), Eardene Pritchett Kennedy (mother), Lucille P. Hill (aunt), Levi Kennedy (brother), and Gregory Kennedy (brother).

He is survived by his loving wife, Dian Kennedy; daughters: Kimberlain Davis (Cleon Sr.), Kendra Kennedy, and Jheda Kennedy; son Arthur Kennedy Jr.; grandchildren: Aubrianna Kennedy, Arthur Kennedy III, and Cleon “CJ” Davis Jr.; sisters: Sheila Moody and Versie Mann; brother, Dexter Kennedy; sister-in-law, Patricia Smith; brothers-in-law, Nathaniel Skipwith and Karl Skipwith; goddaughter Jaden Lewis; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.