Obituary: Dr. Gerald Kennedy

Dr. Gerald Kennedy, 1935-2018

Dr. Gerald Kennedy was born on March 17, 1935, in Humboldt, Iowa, and died on Nov. 12, 2018 at  his home in Pipestone, Minn.

He did all the usual and ordinary things; went to school, college, veterinary school, and fell in love with his high school sweetheart, Kay. They married while he was still in veterinary school. He graduated in 1960 from Iowa State University and they moved to Pipestone to practice and raise their family of four daughters.

Kay died in 1996. In 1998, love entered his life for the second time and he married Deb. He worked as a veterinarian his entire professional life, more than 58 years. Retirement was not in his vocabulary.

Being a veterinarian was not only his vocation, it was his passion. He especially enjoyed sheep, and worked with large feedlots and ewe flocks as a result of the Pipestone Lamb and Wool Program.

He served on the boards for the Dorper and Katahdin breeds and on the ASI animal health committee.

Dr. Kennedy authored two books on sheep health. In the 1990s, he co-created the Pipestone System, an integrated swine production system that results in more than 5 million pigs per year.

He received ASI’s Camptender award, and is a member of the Minnesota Agricultural Hall of Fame and the Pipestone Lamb and Wool Program’s Hall of Fame.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his beloved Kay. He is lovingly remembered by his wife, Debra (Salzsieder) and children; Kim (Phil) Schaefbauer of Baxter, Minn.; Jacque Kennedy of Pipestone; Diane Kennedy (Mark Dahl) of Luverne, Minn.; Barbara Kennedy (Eddie Dyson), of Crystal, Minn.; Bill (Mandi) Trebbe of Fort Pierre, S.D.; and Adam (Ammie) Trebbe of Colorado Springs, Colo.; and 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to the GF Kennedy Memorial.