East Lansing, Michigan
Alicia Ann (Lavers) Kennedy died Sunday, March 24, 2013, at Burcham Hills Retirement Community in East Lansing. Born September 12, 1920, in Bad Axe, Michigan, she was the daughter of Gertrude (Thompson) Lavers and William Wilcox Lavers. She attended Walter French Junior High School in Lansing and graduated from Redford High School in Detroit. In 1938 she obtained a BA degree in Home Economics from Michigan StateUniversity, where she was a loyal member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
In 1942 she married Lt. Chester Kennedy of the Tenth Armored Division, then at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and for the next twenty-five years she “followed the gun,” creating a home for her family in Karlsruhe, Germany; Ft. Monroe, Virginia; Palo Alto, California; Arlington, Virginia; Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas; Ft. Richardson, Alaska; Ft. Leavenworth, again; Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania; Falls Church, Virginia; Heidelberg,Germany; and Straubing, Germany.
On leaving the Army, the Kennedys settled in East Lansing, where Alicia worked as an academic counselor, helping generations of MSU students cope with the challenges of undergraduate life. Alicia entered eagerly into the life of the communities in which she lived. She was a Cub, Boy, and Girl Scout leader, took roles in amateur theatrical productions and modeled in fashion shows, served as president of the Ft. Leavenworth PTA, and was a supportive member of the German-American Women’s Clubs of Heidelberg and Straubing.
An accomplished hostess, she relished opportunities to entertain and never met a party she didn’t like. She maintained long-lasting friendships, was adored by her children for whom she kept the home-fires burning through successive Army moves, and was the one and only love of her husband throughout a 71-year marriage.
Her husband Chet Kennedy, of East Lansing, survives her, as do her brother Jack Lavers of Corpus Christi, Texas; daughter and son-in-law Jan and Edward Foster of Walla Walla, Washington; son and daughter-in-law James and Bonnie Kennedy of Roselle, Illinois; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
A private interment is planned. The family is being served by Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, East Lansing, Michigan. On line condolences may be made at www.greastlansing.com
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