Floyd Kenney

Floyd Kenney passed away Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at home in Fresno, Calif. at the age of 93, following a short illness. Family and friends surrounded him.

He was born June 15, 1923 in Grand Junction, Iowa to Claude and Marie (Hollingshead). As the third of six children, he spent his youth working on the family farms. After graduating from Grand Junction High in 1940, he moved to the west coast. During WWII, he returned to Iowa where he enlisted in the Army Air Corp. and served nearly four years as an aircraft mechanic. After the War, he drifted back to the warmer weather of central California. A job at a pump shop turned into a fifty-year career in the groundwater industry including 15 years at the City of Fresno and ten years as a well construction consultant.

Floyd met Jean Daugherty in Visalia and they married in 1949, raising five children. They moved to Fresno and in 1968 settled into the house they lived in for the rest of their lives. Jean and Floyd were both alumni of UC Berkeley. Floyd was also a long time active member of both the University Presbyterian Church and Lions Club.

Floyd was preceded in death by his wife, Jean in 2010; also by his parents, Claude and Marie; sisters, Margaret Rasmus and Lois Francis; brothers, Howard and James; and nephew, Roger.

Surviving him are his five children: William, Paul (Deborah Jelley)of New Hampshire, Sheila Kenney-Lieder (Tom Lieder) of Fresno, Carol Kenney Murray (Larry Murray) of San Diego and Drew (Susan) of Washington; grandsons, Nathan and Jeremy Kenney, Trenton, Sean and Ian Murray; granddaughter, Cathrine Murray; his sister, Carol E. Clow-Schenke of Des Moines; sister-in-law, Ruth Kenney-Randolph of Des Moines; and 24 nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Floyd’s life will be held Saturday, May 20, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at the University Presbyterian Church at 1776 E Roberts, Fresno, CA. Gift remembrances may be made to The Lions Eye Foundation or Hinds Hospice.

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