She enjoyed life on Grant Street and beyond

Kathleen O'Malley Kennedy, a former county worker who knew all Grant Street faces, died Thursday, March 10, 2005. She was 85.

For nearly 20 years, Mrs. Kennedy, of Dormont, was the administrative chairwoman of the Allegheny County Board of Viewers. The board oversees property-tax appeals and sets property values in eminent-domain cases.

"She knew everybody on Grant Street," said Bonnie Gould, her oldest daughter. "She loved people."

Attorney Michael E. McCarthy, who now holds Mrs. Kennedy's position and also serves as hearing master on the board, said: "She worked with people and got the job done.

"She brought a lot of spirit to that job," said McCarthy, who met Mrs. Kennedy when he joined the board in 1991.

A first cousin of Common Pleas Senior Judge Michael J. O'Malley, Mrs. Kennedy came to know many key political players on Grant Street, along which the halls of both county and city government are located.

Gould said her mother had a lifelong love for learning. After she had turned 50 and raised three daughters, she returned to college, eventually graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a master's degree in psychology.

"She was a woman ahead of her time," Gould said.

Mrs. Kennedy was proud of her brother, noted actor Bingo O'Malley. She would introduce him as "the best Pittsburgh actor." Just last month, she traveled to Kentucky to watch him perform in "The Gin Game" at the Actors Theater in Louisville.

Mrs. Kennedy was a fashionable dresser, a good dancer and was "the life of the party" -- someone who was always on the go, Gould said. Mrs. Kennedy once joked that she would rather hold her car keys than a rosary when she is laid to rest, her daughter recalled.

Mrs. Kennedy was born Aug. 6, 1919, in Oakland, to Bartley and Cathryn O'Malley, both immigrants from Ireland. Besides her parents, she was predeceased by a sister, Helen Vant, and a brother, Bartley O'Malley Jr.

She is survived by her husband of 63 years, John J. Kennedy; three daughters, Bonnie Gould and Pam Carpenter, both of Mt. Lebanon, and Tammy Nichols, of Sykesville, Md.; a brother, Bingo O'Malley, of Bethel Park; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation is from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today and Sunday at Laughlin Memorial Chapel Inc., 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon.

A funeral Mass will be conducted at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Bernard Church, 311 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon. Interment will be at Calvary Cemetery, Greenfield.