The death has taken place in New York of Tom Kennedy, for many years a prominent figure in the expansion of services in North America by Aer Lingus and in later years one of the leading executives in the American Ireland Fund.
Born Thomas P. Kennedy, he died peacefully at home on Oct. 21 surrounded, according to a published obituary, by his loving wife, Valerie, and children Kathleen, Kevin, Joanne, and Jerry.
Kennedy, who was 90, was born in Tralee, Co. Kerry, and raised in Dublin. He immigrated to the U.S. in l947 and lived in New York City for the remainder of his life.
When Aer Lingus went transatlantic and renamed Irish International Airlines, Kennedy was named Public Relations/Advertising Manager, and from l959 to l984 he was an integral part of the launching of the airline in major U.S. cities with large Irish American cities. Upon retirement, Kennedy, a well known and popular figure in New York's Irish community, took up the post of east coast director of the American Ireland Fund, in which he served until 1999.
His funeral is will take place today, Wednesday at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Manhattan. In lieu of flowers, family has requested that donations be made to the Irish Repertory Theatre, or the American Ireland Fund.
