Richard Bradan Kennedy

A celebration of the life of Richard Badran Kennedy, 76, best known to friends and relatives as “Rick,” will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 6, in the chapel of Memorial Park South Funeral Home at 4121 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch, Ga., with interment to follow in the facility’s cemetery. Visitation for friends and family will be held from 10 a.m.-11 a.m., prior to the service.

Rick passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 29 at home with his devoted wife, Teresa, following a decade-long battle with ALS disease.

Rick was born in Jersey City, N.J., on May 3, 1948, and moved with his family to Tyler, Texas, in 1958 when he was 10 years old, where he grew up in the Episcopal Church and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School. He then attended Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, where he earned a degree as a mechanical engineer.

Following college, Rick served in the United States Navy aboard the USS Ticonderoga air craft carrier during the Vietnam War. After the war, Rick pursued his career in refrigeration engineering with several companies including General Electric, Johnson Controls, and Alfa Laval in several locations in the United States. He settled and raised his family in the greater Atlanta area, eventually retiring as a commercial refrigeration engineer with Alfa Laval. He also founded Crystal-Aire HVAC Services, based in Dacula.

Rick was a devoted Georgia Bulldog fan, being a long-time season ticket holder for the Bulldog football games and an avid tailgater at home games in Athens. He also enjoyed traveling throughout the world and loved boating, snow skiing, hiking, scuba diving, and sky diving.

Rick was preceded in death by his father, Edwin Coe Kennedy, mother, Virginia Badran Kennedy, first wife, Christel Kennedy, as well as his sister, Diane Virginia Kennedy.

He is survived by his loving and faithful wife, Teresa Kennedy of Braselton; children, Robert Kennedy of Tucker; Chris and Jeanine Kennedy of Dacula; Melissa Nestor of Lexington, Kentucky; Allison and Chris March of Watkinsville; Stephanie Nestor & Kyle Brown of Suwanee; Kaitlyn Nestor of Frankfort, Kentucky; and Garrett and Kayla Nestor of Social Circle.

Also a beloved “Granddaddy,” he is survived by seven grandchildren, including Kate, Christina, Madison, Wyatt, Miles, Carter, and Bennett; as well as two sisters Martha Lindblom of Tyler, Texas, and Nancy Kennedy Gee and husband Jim Gee of Tyler, Texas; a niece, Jennifer Gee Gillentine, of Tyler, Texas, and nephew, Andy Gee of Bullard, Texas. In addition to his parents, first wife, and sister, he was preceded in death by his brother-in-law, Ray Lindblom.

Memorial Park South Funeral Home, 4121 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch, Georgia 30542 is in charge of arrangements.  Send on-line condolences to www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com.