Hamilton priest remembered for compassion and leadership

He was a school board trustee, parish priest and basketball coach, and he's being lauded this week for his mark on the community.

Rev. Kyran Kennedy served as a trustee on the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board for 45 years. He served for 12 years on the St. Joseph's Hospital board of trustees, helmed the Catholic Youth Organization and coached the Cathedral boys basketball team to its first provincial victory.

He died on Sept. 9 at the age of 85.

Kennedy guided people through countless victories and moments of grief during his 60 years as a priest, said longtime friend Patrick Daly, chair of the local Catholic school board.

"I firmly believe in the last 50 to 60 years, he touched more lives than anyone else in that community," he said.

Kennedy was born in Saskatchewan as one of five children to Dr. Daniel and Carmel Kennedy. He moved to Hamilton with his family, attending Canadian Martyrs and Cathedral Boys High School.

He studied philosophy at St. Michael's College and in 1948, entered St. Augustine's Major Seminary. He was ordained in Hamilton in 1952.

He was pastor at several parishes in Hamilton, including Canadian Martyrs, Sacred Heart, Holy Family and St. Mary Margaret.

Basketball victory

He also coached Cathedral High to its first boys OFSAA basketball championship in 1967.

"Every one of the coaches that followed did so in his footsteps," Daly said.

In 1957, Kennedy became diocesan director of the Catholic Youth Organization, and in 1961, reopened Camp Brebeuf. He became a Catholic school board trustee in 1968 and served until March of this year, when he stepped down for health reasons.

He served on the St. Joseph's Hospital board of trustees from 1974 to 1986, chairing it for three years. The hospital's former executive director, Sister Joan O'Sullivan, describes him as "a very nice person."

"He was well liked and well known," she said.

Avid reader

Kennedy was also an avid reader who once donated more than 18,000 books to the board's central library, Daly said.

He was "a very kind man, a very kind pastor," said Monsignor Murray Kroestch, new chancellor of the Diocese of Hamilton.

He will likely be most remembered for his contribution to Catholic education, he said.

"That stands out, certainly in my mind, as his legacy."

Visitation will be at Cathedral of Christ the King on Sept. 12 from 3 to 9 p.m., with vigil prayers starting at 8 p.m.

There will be a mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of Christ the King on Sept. 13. Interment will be at Holy Sepuchre Cemetery.