Shirley Lee Kenney

MARBLEHEAD & SALEM - Shirley Lee Kenney, 92, of Freeport, Maine (formerly of Salem and Marblehead, Massachusetts), passed away peacefully on Friday, October 4, 2024. Born at home on the family farm in Elkhart, Iowa, she was the youngest of seven children to Lawrence Hubert and Reatha Jeanne (Jones) Williams. Soon the family moved to Cambridge, Iowa for Shirley's elementary years and she graduated from Williams High School in Williams, Iowa, before moving to Des Moines to work for Freeport Insurance. Her adventurous spirit then led her to Chicago, where she became a stewardess for TWA for a few years before marrying and starting a family.

Once her children were older, Shirley returned to work and school. She took classes at Salem State College and worked at Polaroid before furthering her education at Wellesley College while working for Little, Brown and Company, where she worked in publishing. Ultimately, her passion for travel called her back to TWA. After completing her jet training (as opposed to her previous propeller plane training), she spent 18 years as a flight attendant, retiring at age 72 from American Airlines, which had acquired TWA. Shirley's career allowed her to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing the world. Over the years, she visited 49 countries, often traveling with family, friends, and sometimes on solo adventures.

In addition to her parents, Shirley was predeceased by her siblings: Dean Williams, Doris Wilson, Betty Spooner, Beverly Smith, Juanita Sayre, and Donald Williams. She is survived by her daughter, Tammy Lee Bevins (Scott) of Yarmouth, Maine; her son, James William (Bill) Kenney (Kelly) aboard Minerva; her cherished grandchildren, Leah and Samuel; and her beloved sister-in-law, Rosie. She also leaves behind many treasured nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and great-great-nieces and nephews.

Shirley was deeply committed to volunteerism and charitable giving throughout her life. She dedicated many years to Special Olympics events and was purchasing food for the Freeport Community Center Food Bank until her passing.

A memorial celebration of Shirley's life will be held on Thursday, October 17th, at 11 a.m. at Eustis & Cornell of Marblehead, 142 Elm Street, to be followed by an off-site reception. In lieu of flowers, donations in Shirley's memory may be made to: Special Olympics Massachusetts: www.specialolympicsma.org; Freeport Community Center (Senior Fund or Food Bank): https://fcsmaine.org/give Americares (Hurricane Helene Relief): www.americares.org. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at eustisandcornellfuneralhome.com for Shirley's family.