Sherrill "Joe" Kennedy

         On a farm west of Elmore City, with a neighbor lady serving as a midwife, Sherrill “Joe” Kennedy was born on July 9, 1936, the hottest day in recorded Oklahoma history, to Silas Marion “Chock” Kennedy and Loda Bradley Kennedy.  

 Joe started school in Elmore City, but after only two weeks, the family moved to Garfield, NM.  When he was in the fourth grade, Joe’s family moved back to Elmore City where he attended Parks Elementary through the 8th grade before graduating from Elmore City in 1954.  

When Joe was a sophomore in high school, his hip was crushed by a big steer while loading cattle.  At the time, putting a pin in was the only option, so he walked on crutches for a year.  During this time, his leg got shorter and his foot turned in, so his parents took him back to the doctor.  Joe agreed to more surgery if it would allow him to ride a horse again, so he spent his senior year in bed with a 2 x 4 between his legs. After graduating high school, he attended Okmulgee Tech for 18 months learning leather work; he came home every weekend by hitchhiking on crutches.  

 Following college, Joe worked in boot and leather shops in Ardmore, Davis, and Lindsay. Eventually, on October 15, 1956, he went to work for Rural Electric Coop in Lindsay and retired in May of 1996, only a few months short of 40 years of service. 

          On August 18, 1962, he married the love of his life, Leah Marie Moody in Elmore City.  They lived in Alex for two years where Leah taught school before moving to Lindsay in 1964.  They had two daughters, Charlotte Ann and Kristi Jo.  

          Besides working at REC, Joe had many other irons in the fire.  The girls called him “the energizer bunny.”  He did leather work and saddle repair in his shop, “The Hitchin’ Post.”  He had pastures leased in Lindsay, Elmore City, and Wynnewood where he ran cattle for several years.  He raised calves on nurse cows, and he raised show pigs that he sold mostly in Texas and New Mexico.  

          In 1968 he attended Missouri Auction School in Joplin, Missouri and built Kennedy Auction Barn in 1982 where he held numerous estate auctions.  He sent Charlotte and Kristi to auction school in 1985 when Charlotte was a senior and Kristi was in the 8th grade. His three nephews, Max, Rex, and Mitch Kennedy, also went to auction school and worked for him while his five grandchildren helped clerk and cashier, among other things, when they got older.  

 In 1996 he built Outback Mini Storage buildings which he enjoyed looking after.  

 Joe and Leah enjoyed several years of motorcoach travel.  Leah worked as a tour director, and he was her assistant and the head public relations director.  They traveled to Branson numerous times.  Other trips included Alaska, Canadian Rockies, Black Hills and Mount Rushmore, Nova Scotia, New England fall foliage, England, Scotland, and Germany.  

          Joe loved people, spending time with his family, enjoying MeMe’s desserts, watching OU sports, and attending his grandchildren’s activities; he loved staying busy as well as keeping his family busy with him!

          He was preceded in death by his parents Chock and Loda Kennedy, his brothers T.A. “Buster” Kennedy and S.M. “Junior” Kennedy, sister Ametha Carr, and nephew Bruce Kennedy.

          Joe is survived by his loving wife, Leah; two daughters and their husbands, Charlotte and Chris Apel and Jon and Kristi Herd; grandchildren Sarah (Herd) and Chase Bardwell, Carlee (Apel) and Garrett Reynolds, Cole Apel, Anna (Herd) and Connor Williams, and Channing Apel; brother Ira Eugene “Gene” Kennedy and wife Roberta; nieces and nephews, Pamela Varner, Joleyne Temple, Twyla Woodward, Soni Fort, Johnelle Baker, Junelea Alexander, Max Kennedy, Debbie Simmons, Rex Kennedy and Mitch Kennedy; New Zealand exchange student daughter, Tracey (Sapsworth) Shorter, and a host of family and friends.  

          Funeral Services will be held at 10:00am, Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at the REC Multi-Purpose Building in Lindsay, Oklahoma with Bro. Joe Hollingsworth officiating.  Burial at the Elmore City Cemetery under the direction of John W. Williams of Winans Funeral Home in Maysville.  Words of comfort may be sent to the family at this website.