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30994. William Clement11 Kennedy III (Mary Shannon10 Holman, Mary9 Simons, Louisa Jane8 Ely, Susan Ann7 Childers, Elizabeth6 Allgood, John5, Ishmael4, Edward3, William2, Edward1 Algood) was born in Johnson City, NY May 22, 1950. William died September14, 2007 in Nacogdoches, Macogdoches Co., TX. OBIT: Bishop Álvaro Corrada, SJ, celebrated a Mass of Christian Burial for Deacon William C. Kennedy III Sept. 17 at Sacred Heart Church in Nacogdoches.
Deacon Kennedy, 57, died Sept. 14 after a lengthy illness.
He had been a prison chaplain since 2000 and was a narcotics investigator with the Deep East Texas Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force.
He was born May 22, 1950, to William C. Kennedy II and Mary Shannon Kennedy in Johnson City, NY. He joined the Marine Corps in 1968. In 1974, he married Susan Yaw. That same year he began a lifelong career in law enforcement.
"I've always wanted to be a cop," he said in a 1998 profile in Catholic East Texas. "I was interested in police work, so it was either go become a cop or go become a crook."
He worked in law enforcement in Iowa, New Mexico, Overton and Nacogdoches. He was a member of the narcotics task force for Angelina and Polk Counties, the Nacogdoches police department, the Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Department, and, from 1989, on the Deep East Texas task force.
In Nacogdoches, the Kennedys joined Sacred Heart Parish, where, among other ministries, he became active in RCIA.
"I love the RCIA," Deacon Kennedy said in the 1998 CET profile. "The people are there because they want to know, they ask the probing questions. They're not seeking simple answers. They really want to know the bottom line. And sometimes, depending on the questions they ask, there may not really be a bottom line. It may be that what they're really seeking is a starting point, to begin a journey. And it's incredibly exciting to be able to help them on that way."
He was ordained a permanent deacon on Dec. 21, 1996, by Bishop Edmond Carmody, and was among the last deacons for the Tyler Diocese educated by the Dallas formation program. When the Tyler Diocese launched its own diaconate formation program in 1997, he and his wife Susan were on the formation team.
"The rewards that we have from going through formation need to be passed on," he said in the 1998 profile. "I am hardly the qualified formation master that we had, but anything we can do to contribute to the quality of formation for those seeking ordination into the diaconate for the Diocese of Tyler, we need to do.
"From him who has received much," he said, "much will be demanded. And our formation experience gave us much. It's our responsibility to give that back."
Surviving are his wife, Susan; a daughter, Katie Kennedy Saldana of Houston; a son, Sgt. William C. Kennedy IV, of Nacogdoches; grandchildren, Alyssa Claire Fuller, Collin Michael Hale and Hollie Elizabeth Hale, all of Nacogdoches; sisters, Katherine Sharpe of El Paso, Anne Louise Rackham of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Elizabeth Smith of El Paso; and a brother, Michael Kennedy of Conway, Ark.
William Clement Kennedy III and Susan (__) had the following children:
46696 i. William Clement12 Kennedy IV (living).
46697 ii. Katie Kennedy (living).
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