The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Sister tells of grief at loss of John
THE SISTER of Dundee man John Kennedy, who was allegedly killed last month, has spoken of her grief.
Wearing John’s clan Kennedy badge, Jeanette “Jinty” Kennedy paid tribute to the brother who “would help anybody out”.
Jinty (65) said: “We were always close, even as children.
“He was a really good brother. He would help anybody out as well. “I’ve no children — John was my family. “He had a wicked sense of humour.” Jinty has worn the badge every day since she received the devastating news that her younger brother had allegedly been murdered in his Linlathen home on April 29.
She found it on the suit he left at her Warwickshire home at Christmas and has kept it close ever since.
Jinty has been staying with her goddaughter Lisa Kindlen in Douglas for the past three weeks throughout the police inquiry.
Born in the Mid Craigie area of the city, John was two years younger than his sister.
The siblings were brought up by their mother Jane Kennedy, who passed away 21 years ago.
The family moved to Douglas when Jinty was 13 and John attended Rainbow Primary and then Stobswell Boys.
At the age of 16 he went off to sea with the Merchant Navy, spending six months at a time in the Middle East working for the Ben Line shipping company.
But when he was 19 he met his future wife Bet.
“They were totally devoted to one another,” Jinty said. “They were married 41 years.
“He married Bet when they were both 20 and married on Bet’s birthday.
“They had known each other about a year. She had gone out with one of my cousins for a date and came back with John.”
The couple married in 1969 and John left the Merchant Navy shortly after to become a jute spinner in his home town.
They had no children of their own but raised Bet’s nephew Ian Gallagher from the age of three.
“John and Bet were marvellous parents to Ian,” Jinty said.
John left the jute mill to do a series of small jobs but his health was suffering.
He had a triple heart bypass around 1986 and did not work after that.
“That was a shock,” Jinty said. “He didn’t keep good health and he had DLA (disability living allowance) from 1991.
“He was a smoker and he had COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). He had sleep apnea and could fall asleep speaking to you. He had trouble with his legs too.”
Bet became John’s main carer until she passed away in January 2010.
“She had COPD too but she died with cancer of the lung,” Jinty said.
“We never knew that till the last. He rang to ask me to come up saying, ‘Bet’s not got long’.
“She died two weeks after that and stayed with John for six weeks after.”
After Bet’s death Jinty and her partner Alan feared for John but he surprised them.
“He coped better than we thought,” she said. “We always said he wouldn’t be long after Bet but I think he kept quite well.
“Being in the navy, he was meticulous. If he did the dishes he wouldn’t let a cup lie.
“If you didn’t put the salt and pepper back in the right place he would give off.”
John was also a keen gardener and an avid reader, and Jinty said he would go out for his Courier and rolls every morning with hisyorkshire terrier Trusty.
“He was a great reader,” she said.
I“He would do his crossword every day.”
Jinty said the support she has received from members of the Charlie Cooke Dark Blues, the Dundee FC supporters club John founded, has helped her through the past few weeks.
“John was a big football supporter,” she said. “Dundee was his life, ever since he was quite young.
“Tay Taxi staff are members of the Charlie Cookes and have been fabulous.”
John’s funeral cortege passed Dens Park on Friday and members of staff were out to pay their respects.
Jinty said: “The funeral was beautiful, if you can say that. He had a humanist ceremony and then interment at Barnhill.
“I never knew how well thought of he was.”