A Mass of Christian Burial for Marianist Father Francis Kenney was celebrated Sept. 29 at Emmanuel Church in Dayton. Father Kenney, 90, died on Sept. 25. He had been a Marianist for 72 years.

A native of Dayton, Father Kenney entered the Marianist novitiate in 1939 and professed first vows later that year on Aug. 14, 1939. After earning a degree from the University of Dayton, Father Kenney began his career as a Catholic educator. His first assignment was at Most Holy Trinity High School in Brooklyn, New York, where he served from 1943 until 1946. Father Kenney professed perpetual vows on August 15, 1944. After serving at Most Holy Trinity, Father Kenney went abroad to the seminary at the University of Fribourg in Fribourg, Switzerland, and was ordained in 1950.

In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Father Kenney served at the former Hamilton Catholic High School and spent 15 years in the student life department at the University of Dayton and served as chaplain of the football and basketball teams. Between 1984 and 1999 he served at Emmanuel Parish, where he enjoyed ministering as spiritual director for pilgrimages to Marian shrines all over Europe, the United States and Mexico. Father Kenney also led Marian prayer group at Emmanuel with more than 250 members. He continued the ministry after he retired in 2000 to the Mercy Siena Retirement Community in Dayton.

Interment was at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Mount St. John, in Dayton.

(Note: In the November print edition of the Telegraph, Father Kenney’s name was spelled incorrectly throughout the obituary. We regret the error.)