St. Paul, MN - Heart failure has ended Bill Kennedy's 98 wonderful years of life. Born to Mabel (Dailey) and Vincent Kennedy in Chicago, Bill grew up in nearby Waukegan. He attended Marquette University on a track scholarship until a draft letter from the Army led him to immediately enlist in the Navy. Upon discharge, he earned a Bachelor's, Master's and almost a PhD before abandoning biochemistry to sell pharmaceuticals and then enroll at Marquette's medical school. In Milwaukee, he married Marla Mueller. After an internship at Philadelphia General Hospital and residency at the Mayo Clinic, the pair moved to St. Paul. As a young neurologist at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Bill was the first to identify and describe "progressive proximal spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy of late onset" in an article later identified among the 15 most influential papers published in the journal Neurology's first 50 years. The disease became known as Kennedy's Disease and offered a diagnosis more hopeful than the fatal ALS. Bill performed clinical EMGs and EEGs at the U of M, but his heart was in research. He led a skilled family-like team in the Kennedy Neuromuscular Lab at the U of M that pioneered tissue staining techniques, and he created a private biopsy staining business that donated its profits to the Minnesota Medical Foundation. Other achievements include being the first to isolate a single muscle spindle, developing multiple methods to quantify sweat gland production, demonstrating that islet cell transplantation could halt and reverse nerve damage, and inventing a device to precisely quantify the existence and progression of peripheral neuropathy.

Over the course of Bill's 57 years at the U, he was one of the top grant awardees in the medical school, with active grants even when he retired at age 92. From professional associations, he received two honorary memberships, three lifetime achievement awards, one researcher of the year award, one election as president, "Giant of Neurology" designation (the fourth to be selected), and special acclaim from the American Medical Association. For 25 years, Bill represented the specialty of neurology at the AMA, and was elected three times to its Council of Scientific Affairs. Bill published 21 book chapters and 143 peer-reviewed articles.

An avid sportsman outside of the lab, Bill played tennis to age 93. Two tennis clubs named their Court 2 after "Dr. K." A skilled skier, he took up downhill racing at age 70 and skied annually in Colorado until he was 92. Bill canoed in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area more than 30 times with his kids, grandkids, and colleagues from abroad. Bill and Marla timeshared a sailboat on White Bear Lake and an airplane that Bill piloted for conferences and vacations.

But perhaps Bill's greatest achievement is the stamp he left on his family—teaching them the value of hard work, humble actions, gratitude, and kindness. And a good chocolate malt. Bill is survived by Marla, his wife of almost 69 years, children Joseph (Jeanette and children Gary, William, Lauren), Timothy (Leslie and children Catherine (Jason Newcomer), Caroline, Vincent), Kristin Moeller (children Matt Moeller (Amber Tye) and Keelia Estrada Moeller (Luis Estrada)), William (former wife Sylvia and children Michael, Amy, Bridget, Sophia), and Daniel (Katrina and children Erin (Thomas Benz) and Liam), and 2 great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at St. Francis Cabrini Catholic Church in Minneapolis at 11:00 am on Saturday, April 11, with visitation at 10:00 and lunch at noon. Those who wish to honor Dr. Kennedy may make a donation to the Kennedy's Disease Association.