2,996: A Tribute To Yvonne Kennedy

11 September 2006




Yvonne Kennedy, of Sydney, Australia, dedicated her life to helping those who needed her. She was volunteered for the Australian Red Cross between 1976 and 1990, for which she recieved the Australian Red Cross Service Award in 1986.

After her husband Barry passed away in 1990, Mrs Kennedy took up the role of NSW State Coordinator of the Voluntary Aid Service Corp (VASC) for the Australian Red Cross, recieving the service's State Distinguished Service Award on May 8, 2001. Shortly after, she retired aged 62, following 25 years of service to the Australian Red Cross.

Mrs Kennedy then took a well-earned retirement tour of the US and Canada. Whilst in North America she got to experience things she'd always wanted to do, such as white water rafting - "Pretty amazing for a 62 year old woman", as her son said at the memorial service. On Friday 7 September, she sent an email to a friend to let her know she was returning from "a wonderful trip".

On the morning of Tuesday September 11, she boarded American Airlines Flight 77 at Dulles Airport, Washington, bound for Los Angeles, on the first leg of her trip back to Australia.

We can only imagine what Mrs Kennedy was thinking that morning; probably sadness that her trip was coming to an end, but no doubt looking forward to getting home and seeing her beloved family again.

Sadly, that was never to happen.

Mrs Kennedy should have been able to deservedly enjoy her retirement years with her two sons, Simon and Leigh, and her grandchildren. Instead her life was horribly taken that day along with 2,995 others. I have paid tribute to her life so that we might remember the enormity of what the world lost that day.


*****

My huge thanks to Krista at Purple Orb for producing the illustration for this post, and to all the others who have helped with this tribute.

You can find more tributes remembering those lost on Spetember 11, 2001 at
The 2,996 Project.

17 comments:

  1. Nice post.

    Blogmad hit!

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  2. Thanks for sharing this :)

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing her story. It is important to know these people aren't #'s, but were living, breathing, wonderful souls.

    I honored Michael Haub, FDNY.

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  4. Thank you so much for your touching tribute to this woman.

    I honored Cmdr. William Howard Donovan, Jr..

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  5. Beautiful tribute, Xander and Nico. You brought Yvonne Kennedy to life for me, and left me just a little sadder on this sad day. The illustration is a beautiful touch. My heart goes out to her family.

    Dinah Webster: A Tribute

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  6. I think that one of the most important things to remember about September 11 is that the victims were just conducting their lives - thank you so much for sharing your tribute. White water rafting - I would have loved her, I am sure....

    I remember Steven Hagis

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  7. Lovely tribute. This horrible event was a not just an American tragedy, it was a world wide tragedy.

    I am honored to remember Edward T. Keane on my blog today.

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  8. Thanks for writing about Yvonne :)

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  9. Great post! Thanks for sharing her story

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  10. Wonderful Tribute!
    Thank you.
    These are sad and hard to read....
    I am honored to be a part of this project.
    Mine is posted also...

    The 2996 link is down. I have a new link on my site to view the participants.

    Bless you…

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  11. Thank you for sharing. Very well done.

    Jonathon's Closet remembers Robert Levine.

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  12. How sad that she died on what was probably a dream trip for her but I am happy she got the trip in. A lovely tribute. May her family and friends know they are being held in many hearts today.

    I remember David Brooke Rosenbaum.

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  13. Very nice tribute and sketch to Mrs Kennedy, she would be touched Im sure. Please see Eddie Dillard if you wish, and Thanks again.

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  14. What a lovely tribute! Thanks for participating and honouring ... they are no longer just a name to us now.

    Mine's up.

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  15. Lovely portrait -- both the drawn and the written one.
    I'm struck the the vitality and accomplishments of so many of the victims.
    We can only hope to give so much to the world and still be able to white water raft as we near retirement. If she could do that at sixty-two, I'd bet she had a lot more left in her.
    So sad.

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  16. Thank you for your tribute to a truly amazing lady. Yvonne was so full of life and at 62 experienced so much more than I.

    We will never forget.

    I remember Lisa Egan

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