Robert “Bob” Kennedy, 77, peacefully passed away with his wife by his side on January 16th 2025 (StarDate -297951) in Leawood, Kansas.
Bob was a fantastic husband, father, provider, helper and feeder of the neighborhood kitties.
He was born at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1947. Before his primary schooling, he spent a significant amount of time known as “Rober-tito” while in Guatemala. Upon returning to the US, he proceeded to never intentionally eat an avocado again. Bob spent most of his formative years in the St. Louis/Kirkwood area, where he became an avid reader and comic book collector.
College was a transitional time for him. Not only did he earn his bachelor’s degree at Central Missouri State College in Warrensburg (now UCM), he also met his wife, Hiyam Haddad. She would stay with him for the rest of his life. While in college, he also received an incredibly low draft number. So upon graduation, instead of waiting to get drafted, he enlisted in the US Army in order to select the job he wanted to do.
Bob and Hiyam spent the next few years on active duty literally bouncing across the nation and over oceans. They lived in Miami, Milwaukee, Korea (she stayed stateside), and finished their time in San Francisco. While in San Francisco in 1974, their son Eric was born in an army medical center, just like his dad. Two weeks later, they left active duty and moved to the Kansas City area to be near Hiyam’s family.
And there they happily remained. In 1979, Bob and Hiyam (well… mostly Hiyam) had their second child, Nadia Joy. Bob earned a second bachelor’s degree from UMKC. Unfortunately, UMKC did not have a course on how to organize a garage. He did an active duty National Guard stint as a Recruiter, eventually earning a National Guard retirement and ending his service as a Sergeant First Class. When he wasn’t serving in the military, he was also a federal employee with the Social Security Administration, earning a retirement there as well.
Bob also wrote, reviewed and produced under the name “Erwin K. Roberts”, as “Robert Kennedy” was already associated with someone else in the mind of the public. Under his pseudonym, Bob, with his friend Vince, co-created, co-produced, and co-starred in “Entertainment Spectrum”, a community access cable TV show. His content mostly focused on movies, theatre and other quite random things. Bob never asked anyone to “Like, Comment, or Subscribe.” He also wrote novels and short stories in pulp and other genres under this name.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Elizabeth “GramBetty” Joy Woods nee Nelson and Fred “GranDaddy” Woods. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Hiyam Haddad Kennedy; children Eric Sean Kennedy and Nadia Joy Fry (Gabe); sister Elizabeth Joy Slayton (Hilton), her children Mary, Diane, and Patrick and their children. He was also Uncle Bob to a gazillion Haddads.
A combined Visitation and Memorial Service will be held at Olathe Christian Church Friday January 31st at 3pm and 4pm respectively. Olathe Christian Church, 1115 S Ridgeview Rd, Olathe, KS 66062.
Interment with Military Honors will be at a future time.
In Lieu of Flowers, please donate to your local pet shelter.
Obituary published by Cremation Society of Kansas & Missouri.
