Anne Hetrick Hetrick Kennedy

Anne Hetrick Kennedy died in Raleigh on June 5, 2011, at the age of 87. She was born in Princeton, West Virginia, on December 29, 1923, and grew up in Walhalla, South Carolina, but Wake County was her home for almost seventy years. It was here that she pursued her calling as a teacher, married and raised a family, and participated fully in the life of the community. When she graduated from Winthrop College in 1943, her classmates chose her the most interesting member of the senior class. Throughout her life, she remained interesting and interested in all aspects of human experience, from the local to the global, and from the personal to the political. Her love of people and generous spirit enriched the lives of those she touched. She began teaching at Wake Forest High School during the Second World War and maintained cherished friendships with many of her students. Anne married Frank Ramsey Kennedy in 1948 and, in the 1950s, shifted her pedagogical energies to her three children, exposing them to the wonders of nature, the richness of history, and the principles of social justice.

After returning to the classroom at LeRoy Martin Junior High School in 1963, she flourished there for over twenty years as a beloved teacher of subjects ranging from North Carolina history to the history and cultures of Africa and Asia. Her students won prizes in National History Day competitions and received awards from the American Society for State and Local History. Anne received recognition as Wake County’s Teacher of the Year in 1981. She also served on the North Carolina State Textbook Commission and held offices in several professional organizations, including Delta Kappa Gamma. After her retirement, Anne volunteered as a docent at both the North Carolina Museum of History and the North Carolina Museum of Art and enjoyed book clubs and bridge clubs with friends. She was a faithful member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church for over sixty years.

Surviving are daughter, Katharine Kennedy and her husband Daniel Waggoner, of Atlanta; daughter Annette Kennedy Cowell and her husband Rick Cowell, of Stillwater, OK; daughter-in-law Cynthia May Kennedy of Raleigh; granddaughters Anne Vaynne Cowell of San Antonio; Kathryn Kennedy of Raleigh; and Laura Kennedy of Miami; and step-grandson Kyle Hanlin of Raleigh.

She was preceded in death by her husband, by her son John Montgomery Kennedy, and by her granddaughter Rebecca Katherine Cowell.

A memorial service to celebrate Anne’s life will take place at 2:00 on Friday, June 10, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2723 Clark Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27607. The family will greet friends at a reception following the service, in the church fellowship hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church or the North Carolina Museum of History Foundation, attention Heyward H. McKinney, North Carolina Museum of History, 5 East Edenton Street, Raleigh, NC 27601.