Obituary: Kevin Francis Kenna 1924 - 2020.
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A hero to many, a loving father to his family, a cherished friend and a tough but fair sportsman, Kevin Kenna's long and full life has been remembered as "wonderful and well-lived".
Kevin died at Shepparton Private Hospital aged 95 on Sunday, October 11.
At a private funeral service on Friday, October 16, Paul Kenna described his father as a naturally quiet man whom people gravitated towards because of his common sense and honesty.
He said many people who knew his father through sporting connections had reached out to the Kenna family since his passing.
“The prevailing theme coming through strongly was the value and importance that Dad put on developing character and a sense of contribution,” Paul said.
“Dad's gift was to bring people together and to improve yourself in order for others to improve.”
Kevin Kenna was born in Koondrook in 1924, the eighth child of 11 born to Mabel and Mick Kenna.
Paul remembered his father saying they would collect bones in the bush and sell them so they could go to the "moving pictures".
As a young school student Kevin moved with his family to Echuca where he attended St Mary's Primary School. Leaving school in Year 8, he worked as a house boy, cooking and cleaning at Perricoota Station, about 25 km past Moama.
“That’s where he developed his house keeping, cleaning and cooking skills which he displayed throughout his life,” Paul said.
Kevin later worked as a grocery assistant at Crook's National Stores before enlisting with the RAAF aged 17-and-a-half years old in 1943, during World War II.
His four older brothers had all joined the Army, with one of them killed at Tobruk.
Kevin went on to serve in New Guinea, New Britain and Borneo with Operational Base Unit 47.
Discharged in 1946, Kevin trained as a carpenter under the post-war reconstruction scheme.
It was a lifelong skill he carried to SPC, where he was employed as a carpenter before heading up the palletiser section for many years.
On November 7, 1953, he married Mary Ryan and the couple went on to have six children: Mark, Colleen, Paul, Leanne, Tracy and Brendan. Mark sadly died not long after birth.
Among his many achievements, Kevin Kenna is best remembered for his prowess as a football player and coach.
After returning from the war, his football career started at 22 years old when he joined Echuca.
He was the centre-pin for Echuca's three premierships in 1946, 1947 and 1948. He also represented the Echuca League against Fitzroy and St Kilda.
Kevin came from an extraordinary sporting family, with eight brothers becoming prominent Echuca players.
Brendan Kenna said his father was renowned for taking on bigger players with grit and skill.
“Standing 5’10” he had a great leap, was an amazing high mark, brilliant kick and extremely competitive to say the least,” Brendan said.
When Kevin and Mary moved to Shepparton in 1952 he began an unbroken association with Shepparton United — earning the title of ‘Grumpy’ for his strict discipline of fitness.
He captained and coached the Demons for seven years, which led to five consecutive grand finals and winning a hat-trick in 1954, 1955 and 1956.
Brendan said his father's astute coaching skills earned him a reputation across the league as ‘The Prince of Coaches'.
Over his career, Kevin played 230 senior games for Echuca and Shepparton United, and played in and coached six premiership sides.
In 1956 he coached the GVFL to win the inaugural Victorian Country Football League championship.
Kevin was inducted into the Demons’ Team of the Half Century, and he and his brothers were inducted as life members of the Echuca Football Club in 2006. In 2010, Kevin became a Demons Legend, and in 2016 he was inducted into the GVFL Hall of Fame.
Brendan said his father was also a handy cricketer, with excellent bowling and batting skills.
Paul remembered his father had a colourful collection of sayings.
“If you asked Dad where something was he’d say, ‘on the roof'; if he liked something he’d say it was ‘ditto bargoose’ or ‘just like cake’.
“You were a ‘gork’ if you stuffed something up, a ‘jib’ if you lacked grit or ‘lair’ if you were a show pony. If you asked how he was going he’d say ‘Good as gold and twice as valuable’," Paul said.
Kevin Kenna was also a proud war veteran and was a founding member of the Shepparton branch of the RSL in 1963 — an association which continued for the rest of his life.
Paul remembered his father was also capable of spinning a good yarn.
“During one of his folklore stories at an Anzac Day event he claimed he was the front gunner in a bomber taking on the Japanese in New Guinea,” Paul said.
“When he ran out of ammunition he said he had to feed his rosary beads through the magazine as they flew low through the forest.”
Kevin Kenna leaves behind his wife of 67 years Mary, five children, 16 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
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