David A. Kennedy
Longtime banker and former history teacher who loved to keep people laughing dies just days after retiring
David A. Kennedy, a PNC banker who enjoyed travel and history, died of a heart attack July 3 at his Guilford home. He was 69.
Mr. Kennedy retired June 30 from PNC Bank in Baltimore, where he had been vice president of its credit policy group.
Carol Haislip was a former colleague of Mr. Kennedy’s when they were both at First National Bank, which is now M&T Bank.
“David was a great person to have on your team. He was such a kind person and always willing to help out,” she wrote in an email. “He was a great business person and very customer service oriented, and in addition, had a wonderful sense of humor and kept everyone laughing.”
David Ambrose Kennedy, son of Jerome McDonald Kennedy Sr., a Pentagon legislative affairs officer, and Mary Ann McCardell Kennedy, a Baltimore County Public Schools elementary teacher, was born in Aberdeen and raised on Wilmslow Road in Roland Park.
Mr. Kennedy was the grandson of Ambrose J. Kennedy, who represented the city’s 4th District and the old 10th Ward as a member of Congress.
His maternal grandfather was Lee McCardell, assistant managing editor of The Evening Sun and former World War II European correspondent who later was chief of the Rome and London bureaus of The Sun.
“David was so proud to be a grandson of two Baltimore giants,” said a brother, Jerome McDonald “Mac” Kennedy Jr. of Roland Park.
Mr. Kennedy was a 1972 graduate of the Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, where he played varsity lacrosse and football, and received the J. Elwood Peter Cup.
“The cup is presented ‘For one who loves his fellow man,’ and he kept it on his desk for the rest of his life,” his brother said.
Mr. Kennedy was a 1976 cum laude graduate of Washington and Lee University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and played varsity lacrosse.
At W&L, he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
Mr. Kennedy also held two master’s degrees. In 1981, he earned one in administrative science from the Johns Hopkins University; the other was in 1989 in business administration from the University of Baltimore.
Before commencing his banking career, he was head of the history department and taught students at the old Samuel Ready School from 1976 to 1977, when the school closed.
From 1977 to 1981, he taught history at the Garrison Forest School, where he also assisted in the development and implementation of the department’s curriculum.
In 1981, Mr. Kennedy left education and launched his banking career at Allfirst Financial, formerly the First National Bank of Maryland, as a cash management officer and analyst.
He then spent a year as a credit analyst until being named vice president of the bank’s commercial division in 1985.
From 1995 to 2001, he was vice president and unit sales manager in Allfirst’s middle market banking division, where he oversaw large commercial loans.
From 2001 to 2003, he managed portfolios for Central Maryland and Pennsylvania regional banks.
Mr. Kennedy left the bank in 2003 when he was named vice president of Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust Co.
After leaving Mercantile in 2004, he was a senior vice president in SunTrust Bank’s commercial division and then was a loan officer from 2005 to 2007 at CapitalSource Finance LLC in Chevy Chase.
Mr. Kennedy spent the remainder of his banking career from 2007 until his retirement as a vice president at PNC Bank overseeing graded commercial credit.
Mr. Kennedy’s board memberships included the alumni board of Boys’ Latin, March of Dimes of Central Maryland and Rotary Club of Baltimore.
The Charlcote Place resident was an avid reader of history, a genealogist and a scuba diver. He also liked visiting Italy and St. Bart’s in the Caribbean.
A memorial service will be held 3 p.m. Tuesday at St. David’s Episcopal Church at 4700 Roland Ave.
In addition to his brother, Mr. Kennedy is survived by his wife of 23 years, Jane S. Stoiko, a retired M&T Bank banker; a daughter, Elizabeth McCardell “Lizzie” Kennedy, a senior at the University of Delaware; and another brother, Lee McCardell Kennedy of Sparks.