Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

July 17, 2024

CHARLOTTE – Jennifer Ann (Jenny) Kendrick brought sunshine and smiles to any room she entered.  She had a way of inviting you into her light, and forever seeing the good in anyone who was fortunate enough to meet her.  Jenny was a role model for everything it means to be kind and decent.  She saw the light in everything she did, every situation she encountered, no matter what the rest of us saw.  She saw positivity in every problem.

Jenny first shared her light with others on March 14, 1961.  She was the second of four children born to Cleveland Johnny Osborne and his wife, Joyce Ann Osborne, nee Johnson. She was born at the King’s Daughter Hospital in Ashland, Kentucky (Boyd County).

Jenny spent the first few years of her life in the Ashland area, eventually relocating to the Detroit area.  She attended River Rouge schools and graduated from the Dorsey School of Business.  She would later earn her associate’s degree from Oakland County Community College in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  Jenny worked on the administrative side of the FBI for a few years, and it was there that she first met her husband-to-be, Kevin Kendrick.

After a brief courtship, Kevin and Jenny married in Woodbridge, Virgina in October of 1993. They would move several more times over the course of Kevin’s employment with the FBI, eventually ending up in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2004.  Kevin retired from the FBI in 2006 and began working for Dow Corning in Midland, Michigan.

Jenny and Kevin’s move to Midland in 2006, represented an opportunity for them to engage in society in an unfettered way.  Jenny became involved with several different organizations, including Zonta, PEO, Personal Assistance Options, and Rotary.  She was very much involved in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program where she served as a host Mom for several exchange students from Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.  As a board member with Personal Assistance Options for many years, Jenny was a tireless advocate for empowering people with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to move into their own homes.  She helped collect items for the Foster Care Closet and the Diaper Alliance in Midland and helped to establish a scholarship fund at the Midland Foundation for economically disadvantaged first-generation college students.  Jenny worked every single day to ensure equity issues were addressed and achieved this on so many levels.  For her work in Midland, Jenny was recognized in January 2020, as one of the local women of Midland who made a difference in her service, and she was recognized as a changemaker within the realm of Community Builders.

In Rotary, Jenny was a pleasant, yet powerful force.  She loved working behind the scenes and served as Secretary for the Charlotte Dilworth South End Rotary Club for many years while also helping a string of District Governors in publishing District newsletters.  Never really comfortable in the spotlight, Jenny stepped out of her comfort zone in a major way to become President of the Charlotte Dilworth Club in the 2022-2023 year.  After Kevin was selected to be District Governor for the 2024-2025 Rotary year, Jenny served as his Chief of Staff and top confidante until her passing.  A consistent and significant donor to the Rotary Foundation supporting causes she was concerned about, Jenny was a Paul Harris Fellow + 8, a Benefactor, a Major Donor at Level 2 and Bequest Society member, Level 4.

Jenny has been described by so many as being a beacon of light and encouragement wherever she went.  Although she underwent a series of revisions to her knees, resulting in being confined to a wheelchair for two years before an osteobridge device was installed in her leg, which allowed her to escape the confines of the wheelchair, she never let her mobility issues impact her passion for helping others and spreading light as only she could.  Her love for disadvantaged people extended to animals.  Jenny loved animals of every type and she and Kevin adopted ten special needs and/or mature dogs over their marriage.

Jenny leaves behind her beloved husband, Kevin; her blended family including Lindsay Kendrick and her husband, Peter Kikidakis and Jeffrey Kendrick and his wife, Naomi; four beautiful rays of sunshine in grandchildren, Olivia, Nick, Cameron and Zora and her mother, Joyce Osborne.  Also surviving are her siblings, Johnny Osborne and his wife, Barb, Joe Osborne and his wife, Susan, Jeana Shell Degg and her husband, Tony and a host of cousins and other relatives and of course, her two current fur babies, Lucy and Katie, both senior, special needs Cocker Spaniels.   She was predeceased in this life by her father, Cleveland Johhny, and a beautiful grandchild, Lena True.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, August 10, 2024, at St. John Episcopal Church, 1623 Carmel Road, Charlotte, NC.  The family will receive friends following the service at the church.

In lieu of flowers and in consideration of two reasons for Jenny’s sunshine, please consider sharing her light by making donations to The Rotary Foundation, 14280 Collection Center Drive, Evanston, Illinois 60693 (https://my.rotary.org/en/donate) or to any local animal rescue shelter.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.