The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Tributes pour in for Dark Blues fan Chic, 106.
Chic Kennedy, a lifelong Dundee FC fan who lived through two world wars, has died at the age of 106.
Mr Kennedy had been living in Orchar nursing home in Broughty Ferry before he passed away.
The grandfather-of-six and greatgrandfather-of-seven said he had “had a very happy life” when he spoke to The Courier earlier this year.
He said his secret to a long life was simply “good food as a child” and more recently doing times-tables in his head to keep his mind sharp.
Dundee FC posted a tribute to Mr Kennedy over the weekend, saying they were “devastated” at his death.
A statement read: “Chic was a guest of the club just last year when we took on St
Mirren on the final game of the season.”
Mr Kennedy was one of 11 children and son of Dundee scrap dealer Thomas Marshall Kennedy.
His birthplace, 28 Greenmarket, was demolished a few years after his 1914 birth to make way for the construction of the Caird Hall. Only six of Mr Kennedy’s siblings made it to adulthood.
Mr Kennedy also lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s and witnessed hunger marches and riots in Dundee.
He was a pupil at Tay Street School and used to take family holidays in a rented cottage in Tayport.
Dreams of playing professional football were thwarted by his mother, who told him to get a proper job.
He then started his working life just before his 14th birthday in a biscuit factory, earning two shillings per week.
He then secured full-time work at Andrew G Kidd and worked as a baker for the rest of his working life.
Working in a “reserved” occupation, he served in the Home Guard during the Second World War and was responsible for manning the anti-aircraft guns that were mounted at Kingsway East.
He married his wife Betty on September 12 1942.
He started watching his beloved Dundee FC at the age of 12 and used to sneak in to Dens Park with friends – hiding under men’s coats as they went through the turnstiles.