Carol Salm ’64 Kenney

Agnes Carol Kenney, or Carol as she preferred to be called, was a farm girl born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee, Illinois on the 11th of October, 1942. She was named after an aunt. As a youth she attended the Dutch Reform Church. She was the youngest of eight children born to Peter and Jacoba Salm. Carol attended Wichert Grade School and St. Anne High School before leaving home in 1960 to attend Hope College in Holland, Michigan. After graduation, she taught in the Chicago area and then, with a plan to see the world, joined the Department of Defense Overseas School Teacher Program which brought her to places such as Okinawa, Newfoundland, Turkey, Germany, and Cuba.

Carol met her husband, Ed Kenney, in 1973 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She was a teacher at the base elementary school, and he was a Marine Corps officer guarding the fence line. Ed says he had never met anyone like her, he was smitten immediately by her joyous fun filled laugh that put an incredible glow in his heart. I know Carol felt the same. Six months later they were married at the Catholic Chapel on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Carol and Ed went on to have three children – Aaron, Shannon, and Patrick. She was the core of her family; it was her love that bound them together. Her endless patience, sharp wit, and goodness triumphed even over the hardest bumps in life. During this time, Carol continued to work as a substitute schoolteacher for the Oceanside, Carlsbad, and Encinitas school districts. She spent hours planning her day and was known for carrying around a satchel full of books and treats which also tucked away the many cards of children she had taught that day as she was loved by many. As quoted by Ed, “God is wonderful. He allowed me to find the woman who would change my very essence and bring out the best of me.”

Carol came to the Catholic Church late in life. In April of 2021, Father Fimian, a family friend, was visiting Ed and Carol’s home when she indicated she would like to become Catholic. She received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and her first Communion that day. The following Wednesday she was confirmed at St John’s Church by Father Bahash.

Carol was a beautiful person and made a lasting impact on everyone who met her. Even as her memory failed, her wonderful personality and character shown through. Wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend to many still in life, missed by all, may her loving memory remain. Until we meet again.