Thomas Kennedy was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on December 16, 1943.   His parents were John Kennedy and Corinne Monat Kennedy. He was the oldest of six.  Tom grew up in the Hungry Hill section of Springfield. He lived in Enfield, Connecticut for many years before moving to Port Orange, Florida in 2014.  Tom passed away on April 11, 2019 from ALS.

Tom was always drawn to the sea.  He could never live far from it. He loved walking or driving on the beach, sailing, fishing and cruising on large ships. The more ferocious the waves the better he liked it.  In the 1980's Tom had a 30' Catalina he sailed out of Noank, CT to destinations on the coast of Long Island, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. As a young man he enjoyed scuba diving on the New England coast.

Tom liked talking to people.  He was curious and interested in whatever they had to say.  He could strike up a conversation with a stranger with a simple "how's the fishing today?"  Tom had a great sense of humor and liked to kid around and tease. With his bushy white beard, he enjoyed being mistaken for Santa Clause by children around the holidays.

Tom loved playing poker especially Texas Hold 'Em.  When he could no longer go to games or hold the cards, he played on-line and accumulated billions of chips (zero value) that he used to play more games.

Tom followed the stock market and did quite well.  He never missed an episode of Mad Money with Jim Cramer.  He religiously tracked his daily gains and losses.

Tom loved photography.  He was always the one with a camera ready at every holiday, gathering or vacation.  He generously shared his photos.

Tom was devastated when he learned of his diagnosis of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in September, 2017.  Through the difficult days that followed he remained kind, patient, forgiving and grateful for what life had given him.  As his wife and primary caregiver, I can say he was never demanding or unpleasant. As hard as some days were, he would always say thank you for taking such good care of me and I love you before he went to sleep at night.  He was my best friend and it was an honor to take care of him.

Tom started his career as a computer programmer at Westinghouse in 1965 when computers were large machines with 2K of memory and fed punch cards with data on them.  Over the years he worked as a system analyst at Rexcel, Aetna, Kaman Aircraft and Public Service of New Hampshire, a nuclear power plant. He retired from Holyoke Gas and Electric as Data Processing Manager in 2003.  After retirement he worked part time as a real estate broker for a few years.

Tom leaves his wife of 30 years, Pamela Kennedy, his brothers William Kennedy and his wife Denise, John Kennedy and Francis Kennedy and his wife Alice, his sister Corinne Cattaneo and her husband Carlo, and his sister-in-law Darlene Bettini.  His sister Joyce Bielski and sister-in-law Phyllis Kennedy have passed away. Even though he didn't have any children of his own, Tom enjoyed watching his nieces and nephew grow up. Nieces and nephews include Brian Kennedy, Corinne Cattaneo, John Cattaneo, Sean Kennedy, Daniel Kennedy and Laura Skudura.

Tom will be cremated and placed to rest in St. Michael's Cemetery in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Burial will be at the convenience of the family. Please consider a donation in memory of Thomas Kennedy to the ALS Association Florida Chapter, Inc., 3242 Parkside Center Circle, Tampa, FL  33619