Kevin Michael Kennedy

Kevin Michael Kennedy was born in Melrose, MA, to Maureen Carolyn Kennedy and Francis Michael Kennedy, Jr, in 1952.
In 1955, his family moved to Tucson, then to Goodyear in 1964. Kevin played saxophone in the band at Agua Fria High School in Avondale and was also their Drum Major. He was a member of the State Champion Class A baseball team in 1970, but his coach kicked him off the team for growing his hair long.
He attended Glendale Community College and played guitar in a rocknroll band in the early 1970s. Although he did not graduate, he had a brilliant mind and was a voracious reader, he educated himself throughout his lifetime.
After graduation, Kevin took a job at a warehouse where he was injured in a forklift accident. He quit the job, took his settlement, and bought a hang glider. He started launching from Shaw Butte and South Mountain in 1975, making the front page of the local newspaper.
He was among the very first to fly off Mt Eldon in 1975 and performed exhibition flying over events around Flagstaff. He was on local TV several times.
Kevin discovered new flying sites all over Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. He was known as the Wind Dummie, as he was invariably the first to jump off the launches.
He became a part of the Telluride Air Force in the early 1980s, living in the high country in his Step Van or his teepee with his beloved dog Amy in the summer months.
He spent winters in Hawaii giving lessons. He was featured in a commercial where he flew a butterfly hang glider, swooping in over a group of horses running down a beach. He also had supporting fly-bys on the TV program Hawaii Five O.
In the late 1980s Kevin moved his teepee to Pagosa Springs, CO, for the summers and spent his winters in Sedona. In the 1990s, he bought a place east of Flagstaff near the Merriam and Sheba craters, to be close by his favorite places to soar.
Kevin wasnt much for competition, although he usually placed well at fly-ins. His real forte was the awesome grace of his art, as he became one with the wind in all its nuances. He could dance the sky like it was his true home.
He was a member of the United States Hang Gliding and Parasailing Association and was rated as an Advanced Pilot.
Retiring from his glory days, Kevin moved out by Lake Meads north end in 2008 and started flying R/C gliders, big birds without engines, just flaps. His skill and finesse were striking and many a tourist stopped and watched, sometimes for hours. How does that thing stay up there? they asked.
With declining health, Kevin moved back to be near to his beloved Oak Creek in 2012. He died peacefully at home in the arms of his companion, Rebecca Renbourne, on August 13th, 2013, soaring gracefully into the loveliness of the wild blue yonder that had been his true home for so long.
He is survived by his father and step-mother, Francis and Ilona Kennedy of Glendale and his brother and sister-in-law, John and Val Kennedy of Goodyear, as well as numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews in Arizona.
A memorial service is planned for Labor Day up on Mingus Mountain at the launch site.