MJ Miguel KENNEY

KENNEY, MJ Miguel MJ Miguel Kenney (born Michael James Kenney) Writer, Traveler, Spanish Medical Interpreter, Fire-fighter, Recon Marine Wonderful Husband, Father, Grandfather, Son, Brother, and Friend, A Courageous and Jocular Spirit, always in Service to Others. Miguel passed away at home on Sunday evening in San Miguel de Allende, of ALS (motor neuron disease). The funeral mass and procession is today, Wednesday April 1st, 11am CST (10 am PST), in San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico. The mass will be live-streamed as many family members cannot attend due to the current pandemic. You are invited to offer prayers at that time. Miguel was born in Spokane in 1949 to Miriam J. Kenney and James C. Kenney (d.1994). He had three younger siblings, Garry, Jim, and Janice. He attended Our Lady of Fatima, Gonzaga Prep, and Ferris High School. He went to EWU and then received a BA in English Lit. from the UW. Miguel was a Recon Marine, radio operator, and Vietnamese interpreter from 1968-1969. He loved the jungle and hated combat. On returning he attended EWU while serving as a houseparent at the Antonian school for children with disabilities. In 1975 he received his English degree, and later that year married Paige Tidwell (now Paige Kenney Alexander married to Morton Alexander). Together they had three children, Jessica, Emily, and Abraham. In 1977 Miguel became a Spokane firefighter, and continued to be an involved parent after the divorce with Paige in 1983. He joined AA and became sober around this time, a sobriety which he maintained the rest of his life. He loved all kinds of sports and physical activities and particularly enjoyed playing basketball with his brothers. He loved Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology, movies, and science fiction. Miguel retired from the Fire Department as a Lieutenant in 2000. In retirement he received a BA in Spanish and began to travel the Spanish speaking world. In 2001 Miguel moved to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico where he met Martina Eva Aguado, a former grade school teacher, who became his wife in 2006. Together they have done much traveling, volunteering, and built a house in San Miguel. Miguel also wrote stories of his many amazing life experiences in English and Spanish. MJ Miguel Kenney is survived by his widow Martina Eva Aguado (San Miguel), his mother Miriam Finnegan (Spokane), his aunt Heather Blume (Spokane), his siblings and their families including brother Dr. Garrett Charles Kenney and Martha Ann Kenney (Spokane), sister Janice Isabel Kenney and John Bonavita (Lake Tahoe), and brother James Clinton Kenney and Shirley Kaye Lee Kenney (Portland). Also, his children, Jessika Kenney married to Eyvind Kang (Pasadena, CA), Emily and Sam Bishop and his grandchildren Joan and Henry (San Jose), and Abraham Kenney and his partner Bailie living in Spokane. We miss him so very much already, and share our sympathies with all those struggling with ALS.