KENNEDY, CLEVE O. AND DONNA (KING)

by Cleve and Donna Kennedy

Entry F238 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Cleve and Donna Kennedy, together with
two-month-old Derek, became residents of
Mullen in August, 1964. Cleve had been hired
by Superintendent Paul Embree and would
begin his first and only teaching position as
Industrial Arts and Business Instructor at
Mullen High School. The school's shop
classes were then held in the old gym, moving
to the building that now houses the art classes
when the school's addition was built. The
present shop building, constructed in 1978,
contains one of the best equipped Industrial
Arts classrooms in the area and also provides
room for bus storage and maintenance.

Born in Merna, Nebraska, on
1932, to Glenn and Rosia Duryea Kennedy,
Cleve was the second of four sons. His father
worked for Burlington Northern Railroad
and his job required moving the family to
Dunning during Cleve's fourth grade year.
After graduation from Dunning High School,
Cleve began working on the Schwengle-
Erickson ranch near Dunning until drafted
into the U.S. Army in 1953. Several months
were spent on special duty assignment in
Germany and following his discharge in 1955,
Cleve returned to work at the ranch for a time
before enrolling at Kearney State College in
1958. He received his B.A. degree from KSC
in 1962, and was awarded an assistantship to
do research for the Vocational Education
Dependent at Indiana State University,
Terre Haute, Indiana, while completing his
M.S. degree, which was conferred in 1963.
Continuing education has always been of
great importace and many summer months
throughout the years have been spent in
college classrooms. Cleve is a life member of
the National Educational Association, be-
longs to the local and state associations, is
active in Mullen Masonic Lodge A.F. & A.M.
and Winifred Chapter No. 292, Order of the
Eastern Star, and is a member of the
American Legion.

Cleve was married to Donna King at
Kearney, Nebraska on August 13, 1960.
Donna was born on a farm near Miller,
Nebraska, on 1935, the second of six
daughters and two sons of Glenn and Elsie
Gustafson King. A graduate of Kearney High
School, she was working as a bookkeeper at
the Ford Dealership in Kearney when she
met Cleve and found a similar position at an
automotive parts store in Terre Haute during
Cleve's graduate study. She rejoined the work
force in 1978, just as Paige was entering
school. Starting as a Teller-Bookkeeper, she
is presently the Vice President and Cashier
at Bank of Mullen. In addition she is active
in the United Methodist Church & United
Methodist Women; Winifred Chapter No.
292, Order of the Eastern Star; National
Association of Bank Women; a member ofthe
Board of Directors of Guiding Star Girl Scout
Council; and Treasurer of the Hooker county
Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Their first child, Derek, was born
1964, in Kearney, Nebraska. He graduated
from Mullen High School in 1982 and
received a B.S. degree in Business Adminis-
tration from the University of Nebraska in
1987. He is an accountant with Excel Corpo-
ration at their Schuyler, Nebraska division.
Married on August 22, 1987 to Shana Wom-
bacher, they make their home in Seward.
Shana is a medical technologist at Lincoln
General Hospital.

Daughter, Joni, was born at Pioneer Me-
morial Hospital in Mullen on
1965. Graduating from Mullen High School
in 1984, she also attended the University of
Nebraska and is employed at FirsTier Bank,
Lincoln.

Daughter, Paige, born 1973, at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital is a freshman at
Mullen High. An active Girl Scout, she is a
junior counselor at Girl Scout camps and
plans to visit a foreign country with a
scouting group.

The Kennedy lives have been enriched
with the many friendships that began in the
Mullen community. There could be no better
place on earth for children to grow.