Services Held for Ex-City Manager of Westminster

Memorial services were held Thursday for Jerry Kenny, who began his career as an intern with the city government and retired 21 years later, in 1994, as city manager.

Kenny, 65, died Saturday after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his esophagus a week earlier. City officials and his family had expected him to recover from the surgery.

“This was totally unexpected,” said Janice Foley, who was Kenny’s administrative assistant for five years before his retirement. “He was in such good health, he worked out every day and watched everything he ate. [The surgery] was not expected to be life-threatening.”

An autopsy to determine the exact cause of death is scheduled to be conducted within the next two weeks, she said.

Kenny began his career with the city in 1973 as an administrative intern. Because of a shortage of space and equipment, he set up his own portable typewriter on a card table to draft reports.

He served as planning director, public works director and deputy city manager before earning the top spot in 1989.

“He was laughing about it one day,” Foley said. “That here he had started at a part-time, temporary position making $1 or $2 an hour.” Kenny earned about $80,000 a year by the time he retired.

Before joining the city, Kenny, who was known as a private man who placed a high value on education, spent about 23 years in the U.S. Navy. After retiring as a warrant officer, he earned degrees in political science and public administration at Cal State Long Beach. He went on to Claremont College, where he earned a master’s degree in executive management and a Ph.D. in government.

Kenny is survived by his wife, Suzuko, and their daughter, Alicia.

In lieu of gifts or flowers, Kenny’s family requests that donations be made in his name to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 25210, Santa Ana, 92799.