Jodie Kennedy remembered for dedication to firefighting, softball

Published 4:45 pm Tuesday, December 5, 2017

The Meridian Fire Department is mourning the loss of one of their own this week.  

Firefighter Jodie Kennedy died Monday morning from an apparent heart attack, leaving behind a wife and three children. He was 38. 

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Kennedy, who drove Engine 2 at the Central Fire Station, died before his shift Monday, but firefighters on Tuesday’s shift remembered him for the countless hours they spent responding to incidents, playing softball and staying at the Central Fire Station. 

“We’re kind of one big family here at the fire station,” Capt. Eric Hardy, of the C shift, said. “He gave 110 percent and he was always prepared.”

Services scheduled

Visitation for Kennedy will be Thursday, Dec. 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Northcrest Baptist Church with the service beginning at 2 p.m. Kennedy will be interned at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens. 

Hardy also worked with Kennedy on the field, with Kennedy and his wife, Jessie, coaching West Lauderdale’s High School softball team and Hardy officiating high school games.

“He did his scouting before on every team he played,” Hardy said. “We spent countless hours here (at the station) talking about different rules and umpires.”

Though Hardy, who has officiated for two decades, said Kennedy hadn’t officially been coaching for long, he said Kennedy once played professionally and was a lifelong lover of the sport. 

Capt. Dewayne Evans, also of the C shift, said Kennedy’s whole family, all from Quitman, played throughout school and beyond. 

“They all played,” Evans said. “And it gave them good work ethics.”

Hardy said Kennedy’s playing even took him to Columbia.

“I think that was the big passion of his life,” Battalion Chief Wayne Cook, also of C shift, added. “He was good at sports but they were also good Christian people.”

“But he was competitive,” Hardy said. “He never wanted to lose on the softball field… (we) might not always see eye-to-eye on the softball field, but we’d come to work and it was like nothing had ever happened.”

Hardy said he would relieve Kennedy, both at work and on the field as pitchers, but not seeing him at the fire station stung.

“Not seeing him here in the morning is tough,” Hardy said. “But come softball season, when I don’t see him out there… that’s definitely going to be tough.”

Tyler Vick, who coaches against the Kennedys as head coach of the Northeast Lauderdale slow-pitch softball team, said even though he and Kennedy were opposing coaches, there was also a camaraderie between the two. Vick and Kennedy have played together on summer league and charity softball teams, and Vick said Kennedy was one of the friendliest people he’s ever met.

“We coached against each other in slow-pitch, but it’s bigger than that,” Vick said. “We’ve been friends for a long time. (The Kennedys are) just good people. He’s a good guy. It’s just terrible.”

Whether it was his family, the girls he coached at West Lauderdale or his friends, Vick said Kennedy was someone who was always trying to help people.

When Northeast Lauderdale’s Alixus Hearn was injured in a car accident, the Kennedys, along with Clarkdale softball coach Emily Howard, helped organize a home run derby tournament to benefit Hearn.

That still stands out in Vick’s mind.

“That was just one example of him doing something for others before he thought of himself,” Vick said. “He cared about West Lauderdale softball — he cared about his girls. He was just a great guy. He put everyone else ahead of himself.”

Mallorye Dozier, who plays softball for West Lauderdale, also said Kennedy showed how unselfish he was by spending so much time helping his wife coach Dozier and her teammates.

“It really showed how much he cared about us,” Dozier said. “He didn’t do it for himself, he did it because he really wanted us to be the best we could be, and he wanted that for each of us. Even though he wasn’t the head coach, he and Coach Jessie both worked together to make us the best.”

Dozier said no matter what was going on in your life, Kennedy could always put a smile on your face or make you laugh, whether it was about softball or life outside softball.

“Jodie was more than just a coach, he was a great role model and like a dad to the team,” Dozier said. “I could talk to him, and he would give me advice even if it wasn’t softball-related. He definitely knew how to brighten my day. The team and I will miss him so much.”