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KEARNEY -- John Francis. In Loving Memory of John Francis Kearney, 92, who died on March 30, 2009; four months after losing his beloved wife of 56 years, Margaret Ellen Bixby Kearney. He was very proud of and devoted to his family and kept involved in the lives of his three children, John Joseph (JJ) Kearney and his wife Kim, of Florida; daughters, Patricia Ellen Swanson and her husband, Richard of Sandia Park; and Grace Ann Kearney of the home. He is also survived by the pride, joy and love of his life, his only grandson, John Christopher Kearney and his wife, Lindsey, also of Florida. He was born October 18, 1916, in Weehawken, New Jersey. Kearney obtained a BA Degree in Journalism from the University of Alabama in 1941. He served in US Navy from 1941 to 1946 as a PT Boat Captain in Squadrons 2, 3, and 31. He was commissioned as an Ensign, January 1, 1942. Kearney met John F. Kennedy in 1943 and maintained a close friendship with him until the President's death in 1963. Kearney served with PT's in the South Pacific from the Guadalcanal Campaign to Okinawa when World War II ended. He received a citation for his squadron's Guadalcanal Campaign of Reinforcement to the 1st Marines. He built, owned and operated radio station WHUC in New York State in 1946, until he sold it in 1958. Kearney was appointed as Collector of Customs with the U.S. Treasury Dept. in the Eisenhower Administration in 1958. From 1961 to 1968 he served as a Diplomat in the Kennedy Administration in Central America as a resident of Guatemala. He and his family moved to New Mexico in 1969, where he worked with the Indian Health Service. A Memorial Service will be held Friday, May 29, 2009 at 11:00 a.m., at French Mortuary, Westside Chapel with Father Ricardo Russo officiating. Interment will follow at Santa Fe National Cemetery at 2:00 p.m. French 9300 Golf Course Rd. NW (505) 897-0300
        Published on: Sun May 24, 2009