Miss Kennedy was hired by the Dayton Board of Education in 1900 as a teacher for the deaf. When she died in 1935, after 34 years of teaching, the deaf school (then located at Longfellow) was named the Nan C. Kennedy School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. As a newspaper account wrote, “It was largely through her persuasion that the school board authorized the first classes for deaf and hard of hearing children in 1900. Miss Kennedy started the school with seven pupils and taught them herself for several years until the membership increased and the board gave her some assistance.” (Dayton Journal, April 19, 1935). Later, the school moved to Patterson, and it became the Patterson-Kennedy School. Though deaf education was removed elsewhere, the name remained the same until the school was demolished in May 2012.
Dayton Daily News – February 25, 1935, Pg 6, Col 4
NAN KENNEDY IS DEAD AT 79
Funeral arrangements for Miss Nan Kennedy, 79, of 17 Edgemont av., who died Monday morning, were being completed Monday.
The eldest child of John and Martha Darst Kennedy, she was born Feb. 5, 1856, at the old homestead on the Frederick pike, in Harrison twp. She was a member of the Third Street Presbyterian church and later of the Westminster Presbyterian church and an active member of the mission societies. She was educated at the Cooper Female academy. She is survived by one brother, Harry D., Columbus, and several nieces and nephews.
Nan C. Kennedy died February 25, 1935. She is located in Section 35 Lot 750.
Woodland Cemetery, founded in 1841, is one of the nation’s oldest rural garden cemeteries and a unique cultural, botanical and educational resource in the heart of Dayton, Ohio. Visit the cemetery and arboretum and take one of the many tours Woodland offers free of charge. Most of Dayton’s aviation heroes, inventors and business barons are buried at Woodland.
Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum is located at 118 Woodland Avenue off of Brown Street near the University of Dayton Campus. The Woodland Office is open Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm and Saturday 8 am to 12 pm. The Cemetery and Arboretum are open daily from 8 am to 6 pm. The Mausoleum is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information, call 937-228-3221 or visit the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum website.
