KENNEDY, Jean Smith, age 92, a longtime Wellesley resident and award winning gardener, died peacefully on Sunday evening, November 1, 2015. She was the devoted wife of the late Everett R. Kennedy for 68 years.
Born, raised, and educated in West Haven, Connecticut, she was the daughter of the late Harold and Margaret (Baxter) Smith. Jean continued her education at the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing, and was employed as a registered nurse in the area for over 10 years.
The Kennedys had made their home in West Hartford prior to settling in Wellesley in 1963. It was here that Jean was able to bring her talent for gardening to the fore. She taught herself floral design and landscape architecture; she joined the Wellesley Garden Club, the Mass Horticultural and New England Wildflower Societies. Through hard work spurred on by the joy she realized each time a design came to fruition, Jean’s gardens became magnificent and she decided to share the happiness her gardens engendered with others. She started hosting garden tours at her home and gave interviews to a number of magazines, among them Ladies Home Journal. Jean also won numerous awards over the many years she had entries in the Boston Flower Show. She became “a true steward of the earth.”
Jean and her family enjoyed summer vacations in Ocean Park, ME, and she and Everett traveled extensively after retirement. Their sojourns took them throughout the US, Canada, Bermuda, and ultimately to the British Isles where she could visit places she had read in histories and royal biographies for years. An accomplished bridge player, Jean was also a bowler, a member of both the Wellesley Newcomers and Postcomers, and was as conversant with American presidential histories as she was with histories of the British monarchy.
Predeceased by Everett in 2012, she is survived by three children, Douglas E. Kennedy of Wellesley, Susan J. Kennedy of Wellesley, and Leslie K. Natoli and her husband Lawrence, Jr, of Bluffton, SC; two granddaughters, Suzanne and Teresa; great-grandchildren, Jordon, Noah, Grace, and Emelia; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. She was also the sister of the late Ruth Memmott and Harold Smith.
A celebration of Jean’s life is being planned for the Spring in Manchester, CT. Donations may be made in her memory to the Salvation Army of Massachusetts, 25 Shawmut Road, Canton, MA 02021, the Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410, or the charity of one’s choice.