wfn.org | Odette Kennedy, Africa University benefactor, dies

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

April 11, 2001 News media contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn. 10-31-71B{174}

By United Methodist News Service

Odette Kennedy,  revered African American benefactor of Africa University,
died April 10 in McCloud Regional Medical Center in Florence,  S.C., after
an extended illness.

Kennedy, 83, along with husband Jonas, provided the first major gift of
$100,000 to the United Methodist-related school in 1991.  The gift  from the
Bennettsville, S.C., poultry farmers, helped launch a $10 million endowment
fund campaign for the school in Mutare, Zimbabwe.   Later the Kennedys, gave
money to build the first dormitory, dedicated in December 1996.  They also
endowed several scholarships.  In 1996, the school honored her with an
honorary doctor of law degree.

"Mrs. Kennedy had a love affair for Africa and assumed the responsibility
for educating many African students at Africa University and at other
schools on the continent," said James Salley, a native South Carolinian who
serves the university as vice chancellor for development. He said the
Kennedys also provided assistance for Africans studying in the United
States. 

The funeral service is scheduled for April 14 at St. Michael United
Methodist Church in Bennettsville.

Kennedy is survived by her husband, a daughter Deidre Kennedy, grandson
Michael Alexander Kennedy-Wall of High Point, N.C., and the Rev. Robin
Deese, Johns Island, S.C., who the Kennedy's reared.  She also is survived
by two sisters, a brother and a host of nieces and nephews.

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United Methodist News Service
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