Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

June 13, 2020

Janie Davis Kendrick passed away on June 13, 2020. She was born Janie Sue Davis in Shelby, North Carolina on a snow-covered January 10, 1927. Her parents were Lawrence Cleveland Davis and Lula Ross Davis. Janie was the second of their four children.

She was raised on a cotton and dairy farm in southern Cleveland County, North Carolina near the town of Earl. She attended No. 3 High School where she was a top student headed to college in a time when many rural North Carolinians, especially women, did not seek higher education. She attended Peace College, then a junior college, now known as William Peace University, where she obtained an Associate’s Degree. She completed college and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in early childhood education at Winthrop College in Rock Hill South Carolina.

While in Raleigh at Peace College, she met her future husband, Roy Franklin Kendrick, a top student in the North Carolina State College School of Design who was also from Cleveland County. They married on June 19, 1949, and they remained happily married for 64 years until Roy’s death in 2013. Roy was a prominent architect in Charlotte.

Janie was the mother of Lynn Kendrick Erdman (David), Faye Kendrick Burnette (Jimmy) and Will Davis Kendrick, M.D. (Emily) all of whom survive her. She is also survived by her brother, Lawrence “Pat” Davis Jr., and grandchildren Jason Burnette (Lara), Natalie Erdman Moore (Durning), Emily Erdman Mauney (Jon) and Blair Kendrick, as well as great-grandchildren Noah Burnette, Emma Grace Burnette and James Durning Moore, III.

Janie was an active member of St. John’s Baptist Church in Charlotte for more than 60 years where she taught preschool for twenty years as well as Sunday school. She also served as superintendent of the children’s Sunday school, always making sure that all classes had teachers. Janie enjoyed watching the preschoolers she taught grow up to be young adults

Janie enjoyed playing bridge and hosting bridge club. She was known as a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, as well as a devoted friend. She was loved for her kind, gentle spirit.
An avid golfer, she and Roy were members for many years of Carmel Country Club. They traveled frequently on architectural trips and, later, on golfing trips with the Tar Heel Seniors. Janie was proud of having made a hole-in-one.

Janie has lived for the past decade at The Plantation Estates in Matthews. A private graveside memorial service will be held for the family.

Memorials may be made to the Weekday School at St. John’s Baptist Church 300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte NC 28204.

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