December 08 1926 February 12 2020
Nancy Kendall December 08, 1926 – February 12, 2020 Share this obituary Send Flowers View/Sign Guestbook| Send Sympathy Card| Memorial Donation “Everyone Knew Her as Nancy” She was born Anna Elizabeth O’Donnell on December 8, 1926 to John E. and Bridget O’Donnell in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. John and Bridget were Irish immigrants who moved to New York City when Nancy was four years old. She was the second of three daughters and a younger son. Known as Nancy, she graduated from St. Barnabas High School, Bronx, N.Y., in 1943. In 1946, she received her secretarial certificate and started work at Bristol-Myers Company in New York City. After working for the Insurance Manager and in the Medical Department, she was assigned to Dr. Michael A. Halperin, the drug maker’s Economic Advisor. On her resume, Nancy called the work “diversified and extremely interesting.” When Dr. Halperin left to teach at the Institute for International Studies in Geneva, he asked Nancy to join him “in a year of strenuous but, I hope, pleasant work!” On September 23, 1953, Nancy boarded the steamer Flandre at Pier 88 in Manhattan. “He traveled quite a bit and I was responsible for ‘keeping things going’ in his absence.” In August 1954, she embarked on her own European tour, visiting Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, London, Glasgow and then County Mayo where she met her father’s brother, Hugh, and other relatives. She found the travel exhilarating, but, by this time, she longed for home. On September 23, 1954, exactly one year from her departure, she returned to America on the Queen Elizabeth. In December 1954, a secretarial pool sent her to an interview for a position as the personal secretary to Bernard M. Baruch, a prominent Wall Street financier and “Elder Statesman.” After a brief meeting, Baruch offered her the job and explained that it would take her away from home again, to Baruch’s winter home in South Carolina. Since the posting was for just five months, Nancy packed her bags again, recognizing that it would be a rare opportunity. It was that and, as it turned out, a wonderful adventure to boot. Baruch’s Hobcaw Barony, now a 16,000-acre nature preserve, is a former rice plantation located between Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. By day, Nancy worked closely with Baruch and gained an immediate respect for his keen intellect. The rest of the time she was a full-fledged guest of the estate, enjoying the vistas of the “hunting estate” and dinning with Baruch’s fascinating retinue of companions. She would long remember a nightly ritual in which Baruch declared that the soup was too hot and called for “more champagne.” They parted friends and remained so for the rest of his life. Baruch seems to have appreciated her work as her pay increased from $60 to $100 a week in her time with him. When she returned to New York she parlayed her service with him into a new position at the New York Stock Exchange. At first, she worked with John Haire, the corporate treasurer, but within a year, she was stolen away by the Exchange’s president, Keith Funston. It was a demanding position with each day consumed with “letter writing, making appointments, screening visitors, making travel arrangements, etc.” To cut down on bathroom visits, Nancy even restricted her intake of fluids. It was during this time that she was asked to join the Seraphic Secretaries of America, which Fortune magazine later described as “an elite and secretive group of executive assistants to the most powerful people in the New York City area.” In 1961, Nancy served as the group’s secretary. At the very center of the Exchange, Nancy O’Donnell’s desk was a beehive of executive activity, and, in 1964 one of the executives that began circling was the Exchange’s new economist, Lee Kendall. As he buzzed by, a little more than was necessary Nancy noticed, she learned that he was a widower with five kids and a new home near his folks in Elizabeth, N.J. Nancy reciprocated once, returning a book to him when she could have sent it through interoffice mail. In January 1965, when Lee had been with the Exchange for 6 months, Nancy mentioned that she would be visiting Miami with her sister, Eileen, the following month. Lee casually mentioned that, by coincidence, he too would be in Miami and suggested that they meet up. Of course, this was no coincidence. Lee was waiting at the Miami airport where he whisked them off in a convertible. At first, Lee was so polite and attentive to Eileen that Nancy thought he was interested in her. Later, when they were alone, however, he turned his charm to Nancy. The moon was full, the sea glistened, and Lee filled the air with Frank Sinatra serenades. Before the evening was out, he proposed. Nancy was non-committal; “I’ll have to think about it,” she said. The next day, a Sunday, they went to church. After mass, she said yes. It was a shockingly fast courtship. When Nancy’s father, found out about his daughter’s planned matrimony, for instance, he said, “Who the hell is Lee Kendall?” And what of that house full of kids?” The courtship took a somewhat less romantic turn when Nancy drove up to the house to meet the children. The youngest, Bobby, ran to the car, shouting “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!” After meeting all five kids, Nancy’s first words were “I’ll take that drink now.” Keith Funston was not exactly tickled by the pairing either. As a parting gift, he composed a long poem he titled “Funston’s Lament:” So here is a keep-sake from a boss left bereft A token to congratulate the vulture for his theft But most all a sign of deepest affection, to dear Nancy and her understandable defection The “keep-sake” was a glass owl because “Nancy has the wisdom of an owl.” Word of the nuptials spread fast on Wall Street. When the New York Times heard about it, an editor called to see if the couple was available for an interview. The headline was already written, “Romance at the New York Stock Exchange.” Nancy declined, saying it was “too personal.” After a gala, Park Avenue wedding on May 20, 1965, Nancy made a more-or-less seamless transition from Wall Street to the mothering of Tom, Jerry, Becky, Peter and Bobby. Later that year, she legally adopted all five, and, in August 1966, a fifth son, John, was added to the brood. She became “Mommy” to them all as she and Lee built their family and home in Elizabeth New Jersey. Nancy had virtually no experience in the kitchen or with kids but somehow the aforementioned wisdom and the demands of her career proved to be excellent preparation for her new life as chef, seamstress, chauffeur, referee and healer of wounds, be they physical or emotional. In her business career, Nancy acquired decision-making skills and subtle powers of persuasion that served her family well over the years. She made a new community friends at St Genevieve’s Parish, and the Pingry and Delbarton schools, and found other outlets for her executive skills as well. The board of the Visiting Nurses Association of Union County was the first of many governing bodies to benefit. In 1972, at the age of 46, she took on a new challenge, becoming a freshman at Newark State College. For Nancy, college took place as Lee Kendall’s career blossomed into the presidency of the Securities Industry Association. With that role came many dinners and trips. In 1974, a move to Milwaukee was thrown in as Lee became president of Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation. What Nancy described as “the juggling” of family life, school and spousal support became even more complex. Civic responsibilities also accumulated. Marquette University added Nancy to its Women’s Council in 1979. She would later serve a term as president. Nancy also joined the board of the Fox Point Foundation. In 1986, despite her many obligations, Nancy determined that she could graduate from Cardinal Stritch College in May 1987, one year ahead of her youngest son’s graduation from Georgetown. To earn the final “credit for prior learning,” she wrote two papers: one was on “Securities Markets and Investing,” the other was on “Parenting.” It took her longer, but Nancy was a better student than her children, earning Phi Beta Kappa for her degree in history. Cardinal Stritch certainly recognized her potential. She served as a Trustee from 1988 to 1994, and in other capacities. At a 2003 dinner given by Stritch in her honor, Nancy reflected on her “Stritch Franciscan education” by stating that it provided a strong “belief that there is objective truth. Through study and thought, you can approach it.” But she emphasized, “No one person has the fullness of truth. Positions can be improved through dialogue.” Finally, she concluded that she had gained “an understanding of the duty of love we have toward one another.” Her family submit that her time at Stritch may have helped her refine this gift, but an “understanding of the duty of love” was in place long before she got there. Nancy and Lee spent many wonderful winters in Naples, Florida where they entertained family and friends. Yet duty always called as during their months in sunny Florida they were active participants in the community, serving on local advisory councils and providing services to those less fortunate. Until her passing on February 12 at the age of 93, Nancy Kendall continued to spread her “understanding” around with equanimity. She is survived by her sister Eileen O’Donnell Nussbaum, her sons, Tom, Jerry, Peter, Robert and John, her daughter, Becky, 15 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. Family will greet friends at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 2011 N. Oakland Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202, on Tuesday, February 18, from 9:30AM to 11:30AM. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated immediately following at 11:30AM. Reception to follow. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations welcome to the Milwaukee North Side Ministries of Fr. Tim kitzke and Fr. John Baumgardner at Three Holy Women Parish. To make a donation, please mail to: Three Holy Women Parish, Attn: Nancy Kendall Memorial, 1716 N Humboldt Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202. SERVICES Family will greet friends Tuesday, February 18, 2020 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM Holy Rosary Catholic Church 2011 N. Oakland Avenue Milwaukee, WI Get Directions on Google Maps Mass of Christian Burial Tuesday, February 18, 2020 11:30 AM Holy Rosary Catholic Church 2011 N. Oakland Avenue Milwaukee, WI Get Directions on Google Maps Reception to follow. Interment will be private. Print Obituary
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Nancy Kendall December 08 1926 February 12 2020.
Death notice for the town of: Milwaukee, state: Wisconsin