Harvey Edward Kennedy and Dorothy Childress Kennedy

Durham, North Carolina — and recently of Chapel Hill —  died within days of each other, Dot on Sunday, July 12, and Ed on Friday, July 17. She was 90, and he was 91. 

Ed and Dot were married in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1951, and were inseparable ever after. Theirs was truly a marriage of love, and together they provided their children with a wonderful experience of growing up. The family remained close throughout their lives. Ed and Dot traveled extensively, both nationally and internationally. After retirement, they split their time between Durham and Southern Shores — a town on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Ed and Dot were longtime members of the University of North Carolina United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill.

Ed was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, to Robert Hanness and Zilphia Taylor Kennedy. He earned degrees from Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) and North Carolina State University, and did postdoctoral work at Ohio State, Rutgers, and Duke universities.

His early professional career was in microbiological research. After holding academic posts at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Ohio State University, he worked in industrial research for Johnson & Johnson in Milltown, New Jersey, then in 1967 joined the scientific indexing company Biological Abstracts/BIOSIS (Biological Sciences Information Service) in Philadelphia. He retired as president of BIOSIS in 1993, having helped guide it through the era of technological transition from printed materials to digital media transmission.

Dr. Kennedy was recognized worldwide for his contributions to the field of scientific information transfer. He held numerous elected positions during his career, including president of several national and international scientific and publishing organizations, and he served on the Committee on Science and the Arts of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He was a charter board member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing and is listed in “Men of Achievement,” “American Men and Women of Science,” and “Who’s Who in America.”

Ed was also a member of the Kiwanis Club of Durham, served on the board of Senior PharmAssist, was a consultant with the Executive Service Corps of the Greater Triangle, and was an active member of the Duke Institute for Learning in Retirement.

Dorothy Mae Childress Kennedy was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the daughter of the Reverend Raleigh N. and Grayce Reynolds Childress. They moved to Raleigh, where Dot grew up, living there as a teenager (after the death of her mother) with her aunt, Mae Reynolds. She graduated from Hugh Morson High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in primary education at Meredith College. In the 1950s, she taught third grade in the Fred Olds and Sherwood Bates schools in Raleigh. Once her children arrived, Mrs. Kennedy became a homemaker, yet still made time, during the 1960s, to be a substitute teacher in New Jersey. As a volunteer in the ‘70s and ‘80s, she brought joy to special education students through music education in the Old Forge School in Lima, Pennsylvania.

Dot loved to entertain, cooking elegant dinners both for the numerous international guests who worked with her husband, and for a wide circle of friends. For many years, she was a docent at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She used her artistic and creative talents to make contributions as a community volunteer that were many and varied. In Durham, she was a member of the Four Seasons Garden Club, the Reviewers of Durham, and the Duke Institute for Learning in Retirement.

Dot and Ed are survived by a daughter, Connie Kennedy Shuping and husband, Robert, of Chapel Hill; a son, Jeffrey Kennedy and wife, Becky, of Boone, North Carolina, and grandsons Evan Shuping, Spencer Kennedy, and Andrew Kennedy. Ed is also survived by his brothers Donald and Carroll, and several nephews and nieces. He was predeceased by his brothers Russell, Lewis Ray, and Ralph. Dot is also survived by a nephew, Reynolds (Rennie) Johnson Childress, of Kingston, New York. She was predeceased by her brother, Bill Childress.

Their ashes will be interred in the Memorial Rose Garden at the University of North Carolina United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill. Charitable contributions in their honor may be made to the American Heart Association, Amedisys Hospice in Durham, or the University of North Carolina United Methodist Church.