In Memory of

James W. Kennelly

June 17, 2017

Obituary

9/11 Responders Remembered

Friends - Another Hero lost! Sadly on the eve of Fathers Day PO James Kennelly PAPD has passed from his WTC 9/11 related cancer. James leaves behind a beautiful young wife & daughter and sadly James was taken from all of us at the age of 37 years old. This Hero went to Ground Zero with the Massapegua Fire Dept sixteen years ago and then followed his dream to become a member of the PAPD.

The Devil took James from his family, friends & colleagues, but God's Army of Angels have erased his pain, shielded him from the Devil, and comforted him with love & compassion. On September 16th at 10am the FealGood Foundation & the 9/11 Responders Remembered Park will ensure our young Hero is immortalized as his name is etched in stone, so others will know James Kennelly loved his city & country. Rest easy James!

A Massapequa firefighter died on Saturday from 9/11 related cancer. He was 37.  James W. Kennelly, who went with the Massapequa Fire Department to Ground Zero after the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, also worked as an officer for the Port Authority Police.

He worked as a volunteer for the local fire department for 18 years.

He began his law enforcement career with the Nassau County Sheriff's Department before joining the Port Authority Police Department assigned to the JFK Airport Precinct.

Kennelly was a member of the Port Authority Police Emerald Society and was the 2017 grand marshal for the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade.

In addition, he was the inspiration for the statue of a fireman saving a baby at the Massapequa Firefighter's Memorial.

He leaves behind a wife and daughter.
 

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Visitation at Funeral Home:
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Tuesday, June 20, 2017
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm Wednesday, June 21, 2017
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Fredrick J. Chapey & Sons Funeral Home, Inc.
20 Hicksville Road
Bethpage, New York, 11714
(516) 731-5600

Funeral Mass:
10:00 am Thursday, June 22, 2017

St. James R.C. Church
80 Hicksville Road
Seaford, New York, 11783
(516) 731-3710

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Something interesting happened today... Now as most of you know, our brother James Kennelly who was called to Heaven on Saturday June 17, 2017 due to a 9/11 related illness is immortalized by the statue of a fireman saving a baby at the Massapequa Firefighter's Memorial.

Jimmy stood for the sculptor who created that statue 16 years ago when he was 20 or 21 years old, prior to 9/11. Today, a few members from Ladder 6 went to meet Tom Kennelly (T.k. III) with the ladder truck and lay some flowers by Jimmy's statue.

A few minutes later, while we stood there remembering Jimmy, admiring the statue and it's new meaning, a young man whom none of us had ever seen before approached along with a young woman. They stood there admiring the statue along side us. Eventually someone turned to them and asked if he knew Jimmy.

The young man replied "I'm the baby he's holding in his hands."