Man who died in Kowloon accident was a family man, football player
MILTON − Patrick "PK" Kenney Jr. was a college football player, a Federal Emergency Management Agency staff member and a survivor of multiple strokes who appreciated receiving a "second chance" at life, according to his obituary.
Kenney, 42, died Dec. 2 after an accident outside the Kowloon restaurant in Saugus. Authorities have not released information about the cause of the accident, which originally was believed to be a stabbing. Sources told WBZ News that he was wearing a lanyard with a knife attached.
Kenney was born in Boston in 1981 and grew up in Milton. He played hockey, lacrosse and football at Boston College High School. He spent a postgraduate year at the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Massachusetts, where he played football, and then played for the University of Maine, according to his obituary.
Helping people recover from disasters
After college, he joined the Federal Emergency Management Agency and managed disaster responses, from Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey to storms in Puerto Rico.
"Patrick Kenney Jr. approached life the way he played football − full speed ahead with fierce determination and infectious joy in life that he shared with family, friends, teammates and co-workers," his obituary says.
Kenney suffered a series of strokes when he was 37.
With the help of his wife, Lauren; his parents, Donna and Patrick Sr.; and his brother, Matthew, Kenney "waged an ongoing struggle against the concern that another stroke could gravely alter the course of his life," his obituary says.
"After the strokes, I really think he appreciated things and felt like he had a second chance,'' his mother is quoted as saying.
That second chance was highlighted by the birth of his twins, Ava and Patrick III, in 2021.
"It all seemed like a miracle," his father said in the obituary. "He had gone from the depths of suffering strokes to the highest of highs as a father whose life was even more joyous than he had dared to imagine."
"He was a great father," Lauren said. "I feel like he wanted to live life to the fullest after that because he knew tomorrow wasn't promised."
Services for Kenney are set for Friday and Saturday
Visiting hours will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Alfred D. Thomas Funeral Home at 326 Granite Ave. in Milton. A funeral Mass at St. Elizabeth's Church in Milton is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday. Burial will be in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Dorchester.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Kenney's memory to an education account for his children, care of Boston Firefighters Credit Union, 60 Hallet St., Dorchester, MA 02124.
A GoFundMe.com fundraiser for the Kenney family set up by his wife's sisters had more than $82,000 in pledges Thursday morning, well above its $50,000 goal.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Patrick Kenney was a 'great father' who had survived multiple strokes
