Lois Virginia Hall Kennedy was taken home by her Lord and Savior April 22, 2024.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 70 years Lester W. Kennedy Jr., parents George and Mary Hall, brothers Richard, Donald, Tommie, and Larry, and one sister Doris.
She leaves behind five children Judy, Lester (Susie), Richard (Jeni), Danny (Valarie), Joyce (Ron); 16 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren; and 4 great great grandchildren.
Lois was born June 30, 1927 to George and Mary Hall in Roanoke. They were not a rich family, but they had enough to get by. When the Depression hit Roanoke, the family lost their new home and lost their money in a bank closure. In order to find work, Lois and the family moved to Pennsilvannia and New Jersey. By 1940 they would finally move back to the Clearbrook area in Roanoke County. Her father would take up a leadership role in the Clearbrook Grace Brethren Church, where Lois would play the piano. After graduating from Andrew Lewis High School Lois, worked to help support the family and continued to help her father grow the church in Clearbrook and began setting up the formation of a church in Willis, Va. In the summer of 1949 the church needed a temporary pastor and on one Sunday morning Lois and Lester met walking through the same set of doors in the church. By August both left to go to Winona Lake, Ind. to attend Grace College. They were engaged on Christmas Eve 1949 and were married at the Clearbrook Brethren Church on June 16, 1950. They would both go on to graduate from Grace in 1952 and would begin their lives as missionaries to the Central African Republic.
They were first sent to France for language study, and it is there that they welcomed their first child, Judy. Lois had a keen knack for languages and learned how to fluently speak both French and the native language Sango. By the summer of 1953 they began their service to the salvation of others in Africa. Lois helped lead bible studies and organized prayer groups with local women of Mbaiki. Two of her children, Lester III and Richard, would also be born in Africa. By 1960, their first mission trip ended and they returned to the U.S. where Lester would be the preacher of the Grace Brethren Church in Limestone, Tenn. During their three-year stay in Tennessee they would welcome two more children, Danny and Joyce.
In 1966, Lois and the family would return to the mission field in Africa for three more years. When they returned, the family ministered at the First Brethren Church in Buena Vista, Va. Lois played the piano and was an important member of the church and supported her husband throughout their 16 years of service to the church there. In 1987, Lois and Lester would change churches for the final time when they moved to Fairlawn to minister at the Grace Brethren Church. Lois would go on to play the piano at the church for almost 30 years and Lester would serve as the preacher of the church until his death Nov. 17, 2020. On April 22, 2024, Lois was greeted by her savior for whom she loved and was reunited with her husband in eternal Glory.
Lois lived an incredible and almost unbelievable life and she used it to help others find salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. She loved all of her family and prayed for them every night. If there is one thing Lois would want everyone to know it is that there is nothing the Lord cannot help you with and if you pray and accept Him then anything is possible.
The family received friends Friday, April 26, 2024, at the Mullins Funeral Home in Radford. Funeral services followed with Pastor Lester Kennedy III officiating. Interment followed in Sunrise Burial Park in Radford.
In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to Fairlawn Grace Brethren Church Memorial Fund (in Lois’s name), 6893 State Rd 1204, Fairlawn, VA 24141.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”Proverbs 3:5-6
The Kennedy family is in the care of Mullins Funeral Home & Crematory in Radford.
