Obituary of Ida Ann Kennedy

KENNEDY, Ida Ann (nee Race) age 78, of Wyckoff passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by her family on Tuesday, December 23, 2014. Born and raised in Clifton, NJ, she attended the New Jersey State Teacher's College at Paterson. She and her husband Thomas moved to Wyckoff in 1967 where they raised their family. Ida Ann was an elementary school teacher at Lincoln School in Dumont until her retirement in 2002. During her teaching career Ida Ann inspired a number of her students to pursue careers in teaching. She was a parishioner of St. Mary's R.C. Church in Pompton Lakes. Surviving are her devoted sons Thomas F. Kennedy, III and his wife Elizabeth, and Steven P. Kennedy and his wife Kelly. She is also survived by her four grandsons, Ryan T., Kyle B., Matthew T., and Thomas F. Kennedy IV. She also leaves her brother Roger M. Race, her seventeen nieces and nephews and her close personal family friend Joseph Raleigh. Ida Ann was pre-deceased by her husband Thomas F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1998. The Kennedy family will receive friends on Monday, December 29, 2014, 2:00 until 4:00 and 7:00 until 9:00 PM at the Vander Plaat Funeral Home (www.vpfh.com), 257 Godwin Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ. Funeral Mass will be held Tuesday, December 30, 2014 at 10:00 AM at St Mary's R.C. Church, 17 Pompton Avenue, Pompton Lakes, NJ. Interment will follow in Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah. Memorial contributions in Ida Ann's name may be made to Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.