Joan Marie Kennedy

Joan Kennedy, 90, passed away on Monday, July 29, 2024 at Allied Services Hospice. Born and raised in Scranton, she was the daughter of Francis Joseph and Marie Gerrity Drummond. Joan was the widow of Thomas Paul Kennedy, who died July 26, 1992.

Born in West Side in 1933, she was the eldest of six children. Though she excelled in theatre at St. Patrick’s, her pragmatic streak and caring nature won out when choosing her career. In 1953, Joan graduated from the Mercy Hospital Training School for Nurses. Her career spanned a lifetime; as an operating room nurse at the West Side Hospital, a floor nurse at the Mercy and a private duty nurse at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan, N.Y. After raising her family, Joan became a nurse for the Scranton School District, and then a supervising nurse assessor at Lackawanna County’s Area Agency on Aging, where she wrote care plans for the elderly.

In 1958, Joan married her high school sweetheart, Tom Kennedy. They moved to Green Ridge, when she answered her second calling: “Mom!” Like every Irish Catholic mother of her time, Joan had hoped to raise a priest, but she took comfort in the fact that her eight children were educated and gainfully employed. They are Atty. Kate Conaboy (Dr. Patrick Conaboy), of Archbald, Pa.; Eileen Kennedy, M.F.A. (Jack Gorton), of Los Angeles, Calif.; Atty. John F. Kennedy (Beth Kilker), of Scranton, Pa.; Joan Kennedy, of Redmond, Wash.; Thomas Kennedy, M.B.A. (Laila Quinn), of Lower Gwynedd, Pa.; Brian Kennedy (John Voight, Ph.D.), of San Francisco, Calif.; Lizabeth Kennedy Bradley (Jonathan Bradley), of Philadelphia, Pa.; and Christopher M. Kennedy, M.B.A. (Michele Antognoli Kennedy), of Dunmore, Pa.
Joan was also very proud of her 13 grandchildren; Kelly (Chris Wendelken), Patrick and Thomas Conaboy (Emily Posner), Sean, Brigid and Maeve Kennedy, Atty. O’Neill, Grace (Evan Knaff), Laila, Catherine, Thomas and Quinn Kennedy; and her youngest granddaughter, Kate Kennedy.

Joan will be missed by her siblings, Kathleen Drummond Leeson, Pauline (Penny) Ryan, Rosemarie Martin (Kevin), Frank Drummond (Judy) and Marylynn Scaccia; and many nieces and nephews.

A vivacious woman with a great sense of humor, Joan’s interests included traveling, reading mysteries, and dining out with many friends and family. She held memberships in the Sant’ Andrea Society, the Lackawanna Association of Lawyers’ Wives, the Scranton Prep Parents’ Club, and Cards for Charity, which benefitted the Sisters of Holy Family Residence.

Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Paul Kennedy; and her parents, Marie and Francis Drummond; and many aunts and uncles.

Joan attended Mass regularly at  St. Patrick’s, St. Clare’s, St. Paul’s and the Cathedral of St. Peter.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday at 10 a.m. in St. Patrick’s Church, 1403 Jackson St., West Scranton.

Friends may call Friday morning from 9 a.m. until the time of Mass.

Interment, Cathedral Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages memorial contributions be made to the St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen, 500 Penn Ave., Scranton, PA 18503.

Arrangements have been entrusted to and are under the care and direction of the Vanston and James Funeral Home, Scranton.

To share a fond memory or to express your sincere condolences to the family, please visit www.vanstonandjames.com.