George F Kenneke

George F. Kenneke 
It is with great sadness that we announce the last voyage of George F. Kenneke on July 20, 2021. He was 90 years of age and was born in Jamaica, New York on October 11, 1930. He was pre deceased by his son George Michael who was 27 years of age in 1979. He leaves his beloved wife Joan, sons John, Chris and his daughter Karen, his son in law Louis, four grandchildren and a great grandson, and great granddaughter. He and Joan knew each other since they were 8 years old. They attended grade school, junior high school and high school. They were childhood sweethearts and Joan was not only the love of his life, she was his life. They married on April 15, 1951 and resided in Woodhaven, New York and then Lindenhurst, Long Island New York.
George graduated high school in June 1947 at the age of 16, skipping the 2nd year and seventh year being in what was called a rapid class. Upon graduation, he was accepted to the U.S. Coast Guard and Maritime Service Engineering Center at St. Petersburg, Florida on July 7, 1947. Upon graduation in December 1948, he was assigned a position in the Marine Engineering of Sun Oil Co, at the Marcus Hook, PA. He sailed on the Sabine Sun Oil Tanker until July 1, 1950 when his tour of duty was over. Upon his discharge, he received a certificate of recognition from William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense for his period of service to our country.
He returned to New York and went into the construction business as Kennson Building Corp. He built 114 homes on Long Island, New York in 12 years. He then went to work for New York States Long Island Railroad in 1966 in the Bridge & Building Division. He attended Hofstra University’s Bridge Building Engineer courses and then continued his education in Heavy Construction at the New York State Institute of Technology. In 1977, he was promoted to Engineer of Structural Maintenance and was the Department Head of the Bridge & Building Division with 213 employees. He retired from New York States Long Island Railroad in 1986 as Staff Engineer to the Chief Engineer.
He and Joan moved to Cape Coral upon his retirement. He served 2 years on the City Code Enforcement Board, was President of the Cape Coral Engineer Society, Past Commander of the Cape Coral Power Squadron, Past President of the Cape Coral Hospital Auxiliary. He was a member of Post 90 American Legion, Member of the American Merchant Marine Veterans Society. To all you boaters who sailed the Intra Coastal Waterways through the Old Boca Grande Railway opening, George was instrumental in having New York State purchase the lift bridge to replace an old swing bridge he had to maintain. It was dismantled, barged to Tampa, refurbished, and then barged around Florida up the East Coast and placed in position on the Long Beach Branch of the L.I.R.R. It’s still in great shape and operational.
He loved boating, fishing and he was a beach bum and loved the sea, as it was a good part of his life. He had such a zest for life, was a workaholic and had a great sense of humor. He always said that was his daily goal, to leave someone with a smile on their face.
Funeral and Cremation will be held by Fuller Metz Funeral Services. His wish is to have his ashes buried at sea joining his Mother and son George.

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