‘He taught me determination’: Retired KCK firefighter Kenneth Poole Sr. dies at 90
Those who knew Kenneth Poole Sr. say he was someone many looked up to. Not just because of his impressive height of 6 feet 6, but because he was a role model and father figure to friends and strangers alike.
“He went well beyond helping people and was a very generous man,” says his eldest son, Kenneth Poole Jr. “His personality would take over a room. It was a just a commanding presence and people would gravitate to him.”
Poole Sr., a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Kansas, and a retired firefighter, died June 6 due to colon cancer. He was 90.
“With the loss being what it is there are a lot of moments I want to call him and speak to him for his wisdom,” his son says.
He is proud of the hard work his father put in to make sure nothing held him back from his goals. Joining the Kansas City, Kansas, fire department in 1954, Poole was relegated to a segregated all-Black firehouse.
Poole Jr., a retired worker for Boeing, says his father and other Black firefighters were shining lights to the community and put their lives on the line daily with a single-pump fire engine.
“As a child I was always wondering if Dad would come home It was always a big concern,” says Poole Jr., 67.
His father climbed the ranks within the department over his 36-year career, becoming Kansas’ first Black deputy chief and the first Black acting chief. He founded the first Kansas chapter of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters.
For his younger brother, Dr. Edward Poole, his father was something of a superhero.
“It gave me a lot of pride because he was always in control,” he said. “Not to say a roof couldn’t fall on him, but I never remembered feeling fear for him because I knew he was in control.”
Poole says his father was dedicated to advancing his community and race in a time of racial segregation. In addition to his career as a firefighter, Poole Sr. was also involved with community work in the Masonic Lodge, Olive Branch No. 74, and he was a member of First Baptist Church.
“My dad was always working for Black people,” said Poole, 62, a surgical pathologist. “He taught me determination, seeing where he had come and his ability to rise above and excel.”
Poole Sr., always wanting to help, even after his death, decided to donate his body to the University of Kansas School of Medicine for research to help the next generation of doctors. Poole says a consistent theme of his father’s advice was for his sons to just “Do the right thing, always.”
Poole’s wife, Mi-Ling Stone Poole, says Poole Sr. was like a second father after she lost her own early in life. She remembers her father-in-law as a man who exemplified what it meant to be a good person and patriarch.
“He loved his grandkids and great-grandkids,” she says. “He was always helpful, full of jokes and pleasant to be around.”
They shared hobbies and passions, such as traveling.
“He always talked to me about travel and loved Brazil and Spain,” she says. And he was always ready to strike up a conversation with a stranger, his family says.
His sons say they will most miss his words of wisdom and encouragement.
“It is tough because we talked to him three or four times a week. … He always had an answer or remedy,” says Poole. “Now we have the memory of the voice and the memory of the love and trying to apply it.”
He is survived by his children, Patricia Dewberry, Kenneth L. Poole Jr. and Edward C. Poole, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Other remembrances
Lawrence Jackson Jr.
Lawrence Jackson Jr., entrepreneur and substitute teacher, died June 10. He was 76.
Jackson was born on Dec. 16, 1946, to Lawrence Sr. and Mildred Jackson in Kansas City, Kansas, and was their only child. He played basketball at Wyandotte High School and after graduating in 1964, he earned a degree in psychology at what was then called Park College.
Jackson followed his passion for entrepreneurship and created several businesses. He started with a liquor store, JAM Distributions, then a beauty and barber supply store, and JAM Productions, which organized local concerts. His was one of the first minority-owned businesses to have an office in the Lincoln Building on 18th and Vine.
Jackson later started his own marketing firm that produced Black visitor guides to KC; he also did marketing work for the Missouri Lottery and several large firms.
He also worked as a substitute teacher specializing in serving kids with special needs in the KCK school district.
Loved ones will remember Jackson as a man who loved writing, sports and spending his free time with friends and family.
Jackson is survived by his sons, Sean Gibson, Scott C. Mason and Damon Jackson, along with a host of grandchildren, family and friends.
Richard Townsend
Richard Townsend, retired butcher and musician, died June 15. He was 76.
Townsend was born on Oct. 17. 1946, in West Point, Mississippi. He was the youngest of his parents’ 11 children and sang in the church choir at an early age.
He married Linda Jackson in 1995 and they spent the next 27 years together.
As a young man, Townsend moved to Chicago for better job opportunities before moving to Kansas City, where he worked at a meat packing plant. He eventually became a butcher, until his retirement in 2006.
Remembered for his passion for music, Townsend was involved with the scene throughout his life. He started his own band, The Gotto Blues Band, where he sang and played bass guitar.
Townsend is survived by his wife, Linda; children Donald Kinsey, Richard Townsend and Marcus McBride; daughters Debra Malone and Nikki Kearney; and grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
