James Edward Lennon

Feb. 5,1925-July 19, 2018

Passed away at home with his wife of 65 years and several of his children at his side. Jim is survived by wife Agnestell “Del” Cronin Lennon; daughters Kathy, Margaret, and Anne (Shani); sons David (Casey, dec’d) and Joseph (Dennis); grandchildren Peter, Blake, Mark (Dara) Kate, Harry and Beatrix.

Jim was born in Santa Barbara in 1925 to Patrick and Elizabeth Keegan Lennon, smart, caring and engaging Irish Catholic immigrants who shaped his lifelong world outlook. Jim is the last of his generation’s American Lennons and Keegans and is predeceased by his siblings Patrick, Patricia, Nancy, Kathleen and Bill along with many cousins. He is also predeceased by his great friend and brother-inlaw Frank Cronin (Alice). He leaves behind many Lennon and Cronin nieces and nephews whom he loved. Jim graduated from Cal and Mexico City College’s writing program and raised his family in Berkeley. He lived a long and extraordinarily full life. He was a self-made man, who always stayed ahead of his time and explored the world with an insatiable drive to learn and absorb. His intelligence and curiosity led him to become the proud and beloved patriarch of a talented, diverse, and worldly family. He saw and absorbed everything. He could quote literary passages at age 93 that he probably read at age 23. He defied it all, he loved his wife for a true eternity, and in life he made the juice well worth the squeeze.”

A funeral mass will be held Friday, July 27 at 11 am at St Augustine’s Catholic Church, Oakland