Funeral Services Set for Publisher Ralph Kennedy
Funeral services for Ralph A. Kennedy, editor and publisher of the Fullerton Observer, are scheduled July 11 at First Presbyterian Church.
Kennedy, 73, a former rocket engineer, died Wednesday after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.
Kennedy had lived more than half his life in Fullerton with his wife, Natalie. He was remembered there as a crusader on behalf of the poor and powerless.
“He was one of those rare people who saw things as they should be,” said his son, Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission. “He wasn’t willing to sit in his comfort while others in the world were suffering. He always felt like he needed to dig in and do something to bring about justice, to take action, to risk his own comfort in order to make things better.”
Kennedy wrote editorials in the Observer, which he founded in 1978, calling for affordable housing, human rights and other causes.
Services will be at 2 p.m. at the church, 838 N. Euclid St., Fullerton. A reception will follow across the street at the Congregational Church of Fullerton.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the Ralph A. Kennedy Fund, care of the Congregational Church, 845 N. Euclid St. Donations will be donated to Kennedy’s favorite charities.
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