Frank Lowell Kenney of Winthrop passed away July 11, 2014. He was born Feb. 9, 1921, in Clinton, Iowa, the eldest son of Cady Clifford and Gladys Lowell Kenney. During the Great Depression, Cady moved his family to a ranch near Encampment, Wyoming. Frank loved all things western, and living on a ranch led to a lifelong interest in animals and wildlife.
He dropped out of college after Pearl Harbor and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Rising to the rank of first lieutenant in the Transportation Corps, he served as a cargo security officer with additional intelligence duties, a position that entailed frequent trips to Europe. On one such trip, Frank rescued three injured shipmates from a burning ammunition ship after it was bombed at the Port of Naples, earning the Bronze Star for valor.
After the war, Frank married his sweetheart, Mary Wood of Savery, Wyoming, on July 29, 1946. He returned to college and earned a degree in wildlife biology from the University of Wyoming. He had a lengthy career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as manager and biologist at a number of wildlife refuges. He was also a gifted writer and was published in many magazines and periodicals. During his final decade with the Fish and Wildlife Service, he was a public information specialist in Washington, D.C. He regarded these years as the most rewarding of his career, combining as it did his extensive background in wildlife with his love of writing.
Frank Kenney is preceded in death by his parents; his sisters Elizabeth Kenney and Alice Ingram; and brother, Joseph Cady Kenney. He is survived by his wife, Mary, of 68 years; brother David Alden Kenney; two sons, Crawford Lowell (Ardis) Kenney and Kim Forrest Kenney; grandsons David Lowell (Jodi) Kenney and Daniel Emmett (Veronica) Kenney; five great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
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