Dr. Bailey's words follow:
Eulogy
for
Lawrence A. Kenneth, III
May 16, 1947 - December 30, 2009
Given by:
Larry G. Bailey
Monday, January 4, 2010
Good morning,
To Bonnie, Scott, Marsha, and other members of the Kenneth family; the Mississippi Delta Community College Family; and friends, we are here to celebrate the life of a true Trojan and a special man who was a friend to all of us.
Lawrence loved and was proud of his family. He often talked about his son, Scott; step daughters; step grandchildren, Mary Ashley and James; Bonnie; and Marsha. He also loved his extended family from MDCC.
Lawrence spent over four decades at MDCC where he was the Director of Media Services for many years before becoming the Director of Library Services for the Stanny Sanders Library. He served with four presidents during his career –Dr. James T. Hall, Dr. David Powe, Dr. Bobby Garvin, and Dr. Larry Bailey. He also worked very closely with and learned from the former Director of Library Services, the late Beverly Browning Nobile.
He was proud of his college where he began his education and his career. His college was also proud of him by recognizing him with pins for 20, 25, and 30 years of service, the 2007 Humanities Award for MDCC given by the Mississippi Humanities Council for his outstanding contributions to the field of art, and the 2009 Trojan Spirit Award, the highest recognition given by the MDCC Alumni Association for outstanding service to the College by a faculty/staff member.
I first came to know about Lawrence in 1990, when Gail came to work at the College. She kept coming home talking about this man with two first names that was so helpful and really made her transition to the College so much easier as he did for many of us in attendance today. Gail and Lawrence have maintained a very special relationship and friendship since those early years.
Lawrence was an individual that loved life and a job that he considered a very important part of his life. His job allowed him to express himself through his artistic talents of photography, painting, and craftsmanship.
His attitude was one of service to the faculty, staff, and student to meet whatever needs arose. Lawrence always wanted to remain behind the scenes with no recognition, but in reality he and his staff were the individuals that often made events happen.
Lawrence was wise and often shared his wisdom with members of the staff and students. He was a teacher without realizing that he had that role. He took hundreds of thousands of pictures during his career and he often shared his skills with others. His knowledge of technology was amazing. He would come in talking about new innovations that he was implementing in the Library before I had ever heard of them, such as pod casting, e-books, etc.
Lawrence’s skills in photography helped provide the pictorial documentation of MDCC in the yearbooks, newspapers, an even the books recording the history of the community/junior college system in Mississippi from the early 1990’s until 2002. He was recognized in numerous shows at Cottonlandia, MDCC, and others for his paintings and photography of scenes of his beloved Delta farm and his family.
The thing that everyone noticed about Lawrence when they met him was that he was real and genuine. He wanted students to enjoy their experiences at MDCC as he did as a student. He wanted faculty and staff to enjoy working at the College as much as he did.
Lawrence wanted to please others and wanted the Library to be an inviting place. He worked hard to make it an inviting place for all.
Lawrence was one of the brightest and most intelligent people that I have ever known. He was a great listener and problem solver. He was what I always called a “man with the plan”. When I was struggling as a Dean to decide where to move all the faculty and staff in Horton so that the building could be remodeled, he already had a plan to move everyone into the Library including teachers teaching in the open parts of the Library, the entire nursing department into the conference rooms, and the nursing lab into his studio. When it came time for the Center of Learning to be established, he again stepped up and already had a plan to make the Center a part of the Library and he welcomed the staff to the Library family.
Lawrence was also one of the most organized individuals that I have ever known with his small calendar book he kept in his front pocket. Everything was always done ahead of time and to the specifications of whoever requested his assistance. Someone needing his help did not have to ask but once and for annual events one did not have to ask at all – he already had the event on his calendar.
Lawrence loved to eat also. The cafeteria knew when it was time to serve lunch because at 11:30 a.m. every day, Lawrence was there.
Everything with Lawrence was fast pace. He would get so busy that one would look at him and notice that his shirt tail would be out. I often wondered if he took time to tuck it in. When his shirt tail was out was when one knew he was busy and that he was on a mission. Bonnie told me during a recent visit that when she would ask him to tuck his shirt in, he would turn around and say “yes, Dr. Bailey”.
Lawrence also loved challenges and would tackle them with all he had. Such as establishing libraries at three off-campus sites, establishing the video-conferencing network with the state for MDCC, taking on the responsibility of making ID pictures for all MDCC students, and even finding a way to have a sound system and podium on a cotton trailer in the middle of a cotton field for the ground breaking ceremony for the Greenville Higher Education Center.
I could talk to Lawrence about any challenge and he would give it his all to meet the challenge. No matter what though, he took on whatever he was asked with a smile. He really enjoyed being around people, laughing and smiling. He had a great wit and sense of humor. He was caring and committed with charm and grace of a southern gentleman.
He spent 40 years of his life devoted to the education and service of people he loved in a region that the loved – the Mississippi Delta. Today, Lawrence is wearing his MDCC ID tag.
Lawrence was a true Christian that loved his family, his church, and his college. Today, yes we mourn the loss of him on earth, but we celebrate the life of a true Trojan and his after life with our Lord and Savior. He was ready to meet our Lord as was evidenced by his recent baptism, which he and his family were so gracious to share with Gail and me.
On a personal note, Lawrence, thank you for being such a wonderful coworker, but most of all thank you for being such a great friend and mentor for me and all of us present today. Thank you so much for taking me as a young Dean under your wing and for making my career at MDCC so much easier, as you did for so many.
We will definitely miss you. May God bless you until we meet again.
